Chelsian

Chelsian (Native: čelsa linga /ˈtɕɛɫsa ˈlʲɪŋɡɐ/, čelsōrų linga /tɕɛɫˈsoːruː ˈlʲɪŋɡɐ/) is a highly conservative Romance language with Baltic influence.

Chelsian
čelsōrų linga
Pronunciation	[tɕɛɫˈsoːruː ˈlʲɪŋɡɐ]
Created by	Shariifka
Language family	Indo-European Romance Chelsian
Early forms	Classical Latin Middle Chelsian

Introduction

Etymology

From Latin celsus.

Features

Phonological

• Preserves original vowel length and quality.
• Preserved long nasal vowels into its recent history, then merged them with plain long vowels (but they are kept distinct in writing).
• Original velars became alveolar/dental fricatives/affricates before /i/ and postalveolar fricatives/affricates before /e/.
  • This is because palatalization before /i/ and before /e/ occurred separately at different times.
• Original labiovelars became plain velars in all positions.
• Innovated hard/soft consonant distinction.
• Glide v- inserted before word-initial o- (long or short).
• Glide j- inserted before word-initial e- and i- (long or short).
• Original au preserved as a diphthong.
• Original ae merged with long e in most cases, but was kept distinct in 1st declension noun inflectional endings (later merged in pronunciation but without palatalization).
  • This may have actually been through an intermediate phase -āī rather than descending directly from Classical Latin -ae.
• Original oe merged with long e in all cases.

Grammatical

• Preserves case inflection.
• No articles.
• Modifier precedes noun.

Phonology

Orthography

Vowels

Grapheme	Sound (IPA)	Remarks
a	[ɐ]
ā	[äː]
ą
e	[ɛ ~ e̞]	[ɛ] before hard consonants. [e̞] before soft consonants and word-finally.
ē	[æː ~ ɛː ~ eː]	[æː] before hard consonants. [ɛː] before soft consonants. [eː] word-finally.
ę
æ
i	[ɪ]	/jɪ/ word-initially.
ī	[iː]	/jiː/ word-initially.
į
o	[ɔ]
ō	[oː]
ǫ
u	[ʊ]
ū	[uː]
ų
y	[ɪ]	Used to represent unpalatalized /ɪ/ and /iː/ in loanwords (especially word-initially).
ȳ	[iː]

Diphthongs

Grapheme	Sound (IPA)	Remarks
ai	[äɪ̯]
au	[ɐʊ̯]
ei	[ɛɪ̯]
eu	[e̞ʊ̯]
oi	[ɔɪ̯]
ou	[ɔʊ̯]
ui	[ʊɪ̯]

Consonants

Grapheme	Sound (IPA)
	Hard	Soft
b	b	bʲ
c	t̪͡s̪	t͡sʲ
č	t͡ʃ	t͡ɕ
ch	x	xʲ
d	d̪	dʲ
dz	d̪͡z̪	d͡zʲ
dž	d͡ʒ	d͡ʑ
f	f	fʲ
g	ɡ	ɡʲ
h	ɦ	ɣʲ
j	—	j
k	k	kʲ
l	ɫ	lʲ
m	m	mʲ
n	n̪	nʲ
p	p	pʲ
r	r	rʲ
s	s̪	sʲ
š	ʃ	ɕ
t	t̪	tʲ
v	ʋ	vʲ
z	z̪	zʲ
ž	ʒ	ʑ

Consonants are always palatalized (soft) before ⟨e, ē, ę, i, ī, į⟩. Before ⟨a, ā, ą, æ, o, ō, ǫ, u, ū, ų⟩, palatalization is denoted by inserting an ⟨i⟩ between the consonant and the vowel.

Uniquely, ⟨j⟩ is always palatalized regardless of position.

Prosody

Stress

Stress generally follows Classical Latin rules. However, contracted forms retain stress on the same syllable that is stressed in the corresponding uncontracted form, or on the syllable it is absorbed into.

Morphology

Nouns

First declension

1st declension endings

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	-a	-æ
genitive	-æ	-ārų
dative	-æ	-āvīs, -ais
accusative	-ą	-ās
ablative	-ā	-āvīs, -ais
vocative	-a	-æ

Second declension

2nd declension endings

Case	Singular		Plural
	m.	n.	m.	n.
nominative	-(i)us	-(i)ų	-ī	-(i)a
genitive	-ī		-(i)ōrų
dative	-(i)ō		-īs
accusative	-(i)ų		-(i)ōs	-(i)a
ablative	-(i)ō		-īs
vocative	-e	-(i)ų	-ī	-(i)a

Third declension

3rd declension endings

Case	Singular		Plural
	m./f.	n.	m./f.	n.
nominative	(various)		-ēs	-(i)a
genitive	-is		-(i)ų
dative	-ī		-ivīs, -īs
accusative	-ę	(same as nom.)	-ēs	-(i)a
ablative	-e		-ivīs, -īs
vocative	(same as nom.)		-ēs	-(i)a

Fourth declension

4th declension endings

Case	Singular		Plural
	m./f.	n.	m./f.	n.
nominative	-us	-ū	-ūs	-uva
genitive	-uvis, -ūs		-uvų, -ų
dative	-uvī, -ui		-uvīs, -uis
accusative	-ų	-ū	-ūs	-uva
ablative	-ū		-uvīs, -uis
vocative	-us	-ū	-ūs	-uva

Fifth declension

4th declension endings

Case	Singular	Plural
	m./f.	m./f.
nominative	-ēs	-ēs
genitive	-ei	-ērų
dative	-ei	-ēvīs, -eis
accusative	-ę	-ēs
ablative	-ē	-ēvīs, -eis
vocative	-ēs	-ēs

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

Notes:

¹ The cases have been reordered for convenience, since nominative & accusative forms are often identical as are dative & ablative. The vocative has been excluded since it is always identical to the nominative.

² In addition to undeclined genitives, personal pronouns have declined possessive forms.

Personal pronouns

Person	Number	Gender	Nominative	Accusative	Genitive	Possessive	Dative	Ablative
1	sg.	all	jehō	mē	mejī, mei	mejus, -a, -ų	mivī, mī
	pl.	all	nōs		nostrī	nostrus, -a, -ų	nōvīs, nois
2	sg.	all	tū	tē	tuvī, tui	tuvus, -a, -ų	tivī, tī
	pl.	all	vōs		vostrī	vostrus, -a, -ų	vōvīs, vois
3	sg.	m.	isse	issų	issījus	issījus, -a, -ų	issī	issō
		f.	issa	issą	issījus	issījus, -a, -ų	issī	issā
		n.	issud		issījus	issījus, -a, -ų	issī	issō
	pl.	m.	issī	issōs	issōrų	issōrus, -a, -ų	issīs
		f.	issæ	issās	issārų	issārus, -a, -ų	issīs
		n.	issa		issījus	issōrų, -a, -ų	issīs
Reflexive		all	–	sē	suvī, sui	suvus, -a, -ų	sivī, sī

Adjectives

First/second declension adjectives

Declined as first/second declension pronouns with regular masculine nominative singular.

1st/2nd declension adjective endings

Case	Singular			Plural
	m.	f.	n.	m.	f.	n.
nominative	-(i)us	-(i)a	-(i)ud	-ī	-(i)æ	-(i)a
genitive	-ījus			-(i)ōrų	-(i)ārų	-(i)ōrų
dative	-ī			-īs
accusative	-(i)ų	-(i)ą	-(i)ud	-(i)ōs	-(i)ās	-(i)a
ablative	-(i)ō	-(i)ā	-(i)ō	-īs
vocative	-e	-(i)a	-(i)ud	-ī	-(i)æ	-(i)a

Third declension adjectives

Declined as 3rd declension nouns.

3rd declension adjective endings

Case	Singular		Plural
	m./f.	n.	m./f.	n.
nominative	(various)	(various)	-ēs	-(i)a
genitive	-is		-(i)ų
dative	-ī		-ivīs, -īs
accusative	-ę	(same as nom.)	-ēs	-(i)a
ablative	-e		-ivīs, -īs
vocative	(same as nom.)		-ēs	-(i)a

Numerals

Numerals

	Cardinal	Ordinal
0	nūllus, -a, -ų	nūllēsimus, -a, -ų
1	ūnus, -a, -ų	prīmus, -a, -ų
2	duvō, -æ, -ō¹	sekundus, -a, -ų
3	trēs, tria, trių	tercus, -a, -ų
4	kattor	kārtus, -a, -ų
5	cīnke	kīntus, -a, -ų
6	šeš	šeštus, -a, -ų
7	settę	settimus, -a, -ų
8	vottō	vottāvus, -a, -ų
9	novę	nōnus, -a, -ų
10	dečę	decimus, -a, -ų
11	ūndecį	ūndecimus, -a, -ų
12	dōdecį	dōdecimus, -a, -ų
13	tredecį	tredecimus, -a, -ų
14	kattordecį	kattordecimus, -a, -ų
15	kīndecį	kīndecimus, -a, -ų
16	sēdecį	sēdecimus, -a, -ų
17	settendecį	settendecimus, -a, -ų
18	vottōdecį	vottōdecimus, -a, -ų
19	novendecį	novendecimus, -a, -ų
20	vīzintī	vīčēsimus, -a, -ų
21	vīzintī ūnus, -a, -ų	vīzintī prīmus, -a, -ų
30	trīzintā	trīčēsimus, -a, -ų
40	kadrāzintā	kadrāčēsimus, -a, -ų
50	cīnkāzintā	cīnkāčēsimus, -a, -ų
60	šeššāzintā	šeššāčēsimus, -a, -ų
70	settāzintā	settāčēsimus, -a, -ų
80	vottōzintā	vottōčēsimus, -a, -ų
90	nōnāzintā	nōnāčēsimus, -a, -ų
100	čentų, -ī	čentēsimus, -a, -ų
200	duvō čenta, -ārų	duvō čentēsimus, -a, -ų
1000	mīlle	mīllēsimus, -a, -ų
2000	duvō mīllia, duvōrų mīllių	duvō mīllēsimus, -a, -ų
10⁶	mīlliō, -ōnis	mīlliōnēsimus, -a, -ų
2×10⁶	duvō mīlliōnēs, duvōrų mīlliōnių	duvō mīlliōnēsimus, -a, -ų
10⁹	mīlliardus, -ī	mīlliardēsimus, -a, -ų
2×10⁹	duvō milliardī, duvōrų millardōrų	duvō mīlliardēsimus, -a, -ų

Notes:

¹ Declined as follows:

Declension of duvō, -æ, -ō "two"

	Plural
	m.	f.	pl.
Nominative	duvō	duvæ	duvō
Genitive	duvōrų	duvārų	duvōrų
Dative	duvōvīs, duvois	duvāvīs, duvais	duvōvīs, duvois
Accusative	duvōs	duvās	duvō
Ablative	duvōvīs, duvois	duvāvīs, duvais	duvōvīs, duvois

This declension is shared by ambō, -æ, -ō "both".

Verbs

Verbs are split into four conjugations that can be identified by their present active infinitive endings:

• 1st conjugation: -(i)āre
• 2nd conjugation: -ēre
• 3rd conjugation: -ere
• 4th conjugation: -īre

Principal parts

The full conjugation of all verbs (except the verb jessere "to be") can be derived from their principal parts.

The principle parts are:

• 1st person singular present indicative - from which the secondary present stem is derived
• Present active infinitive - from which the primary present stem is derived
• 1st person singular perfect indicative - from which the perfect stem is derived
• Supine - from which the supine stem is derived

Forms based on the present stem

The present stem is obtained by removing the infinitive ending (-(i)āre, -ēre, -ere, or -īre) from the second principal part and (in the case of the first conjugation) maintaining its hardness/softness.

Many verbs in the second to fourth conjugations have a secondary present stem distinct from the primary present stem. This is obtained by removing -(i)ō from the first principal part and maintaining its hardness/softness.

Non-finite forms based on the present stem

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
Present active infinitive	-(i)āre	-ēre	-ere	-īre
Present active participle	-(i)ąs, -(i)antis, -(i)antių	-ęs, -entis, -entių		-ęs, -entis, -entių¹
Present passive participle	-(i)andus, -a, -ų	-endus, -a, -ų		-endus, -a, -ų¹
Obligative active participle	-(i)antūrus, -a, -ų	-entūrus, -a, -ų		-entūrus, -a, -ų¹

Notes:

¹ Uses the secondary present stem (if applicable).

Finite tenses based on the present stem

Person/ number	Present indicative				Present subjunctive				Imperfect indicative				Imperfect subjunctive				Imperative
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
1S	-(i)ō	-(i)ō¹			-ę	-(i)ą¹			-(i)āvą	-ēvą		-ēvą¹	-(i)ārę	-ērę	-erę	-īrę
2S	-(i)ās	-ēs	-is	-īs	-ēs	-(i)ās¹			-(i)āvās	-evās		-ēvās¹	-(i)ārēs	-ērēs	-erēs	-īrēs	-(i)ā	-ē	-e	-ī
3S	-(i)at	-et	-it	-it	-et	-(i)at¹			-(i)āvat	-ēvat		-ēvat¹	-(i)āret	-ēret	-eret	-īret
1P	-(i)āmus	-ēmus	-imus	-īmus	-ēmus	-(i)āmus¹			-(i)āvāmus	-ēvāmus		-ēvāmus¹	-(i)ārēmus	-ērēmus	-erēmus	-īrēmus
2P	-(i)ātis	-ētis	-itis	-ītis	-ētis	-(i)ātis¹			-(i)āvātis	-ēvātis		-ēvātis¹	-(i)ārētis	-ērētis	-erētis	-īrētis	-(i)āte	-ēte	-ite	-īte
3P	-(i)ant	-ent	-(i)unt¹	-(i)unt¹	-ent	-(i)ant¹			-(i)āvant	-ēvant		-ēvant¹	-(i)ārent	-ērent	-erent	-īrent

Notes:

¹ Uses the secondary present stem (if applicable).

As indicated in the above tables, the secondary present stem is used in the following cases:

• 2nd, 3rd, and 4th conjugations:
  1. 1S present indicative
  2. Present subjunctive
• Additional for 3rd and 4th conjugations:
  1. 3P present indicative
• Additional for 4th conjugation only:
  1. Imperfect tense
  2. Present active participle
  3. Present passive participle
  4. Obligative active participle

Otherwise, the primary present stem is used.

Forms based on the perfect stem

The perfect stem is obtained by removing -ī from the third principle part.

Non-finite forms based on the perfect stem

Form	Formation
Perfect active infinitive	-isse

Finite forms based on the perfect stem

	Perfect indicative	Pluperfect indicative	Perfect subjunctive	Pluperfect subjunctive
1S	-ī	-erą	-erį	issę
2S	-istī	-erās	-erīs	issēs
3S	-it	-erat	-erit	isset
1P	-imus	-erāmus	-erīmus	issēmus
2P	-istis	-erātis	-erītis	issētis
3P	-ērunt	-erant	-erint	issent

Perfect stems ending in monophthong + -v- can optionally be contracted in certain environments. Note that the stress is always maintained as in the uncontracted form.

Optional contractions of perfect-stem forms

Monophthong preceding -v-	Sequence following -v-	Contraction	Remarks
ā	ī; stressed i, ē	ai	Can become ā before a consonant cluster.
	e; unstressed i, ē	ā or au
ē	ī; stressed i, ē	ei
	e; unstressed i, ē	ē or eu
ī	ē	ē
	e, i	ī
ō	ī; stressed i, ē	oi	Can become ō before a consonant cluster.
	e; unstressed i, ē	ō or ou
u, ū	ī; stressed i, ē	ui	Can become ū before a consonant cluster.
	e; unstressed i, ē	ū

In regular verbs, the perfect stem can be derived from the present stem in predictable ways:

• 1st conjugation: -āv-
• 2nd conjugation: -uv- (with hard stem-final consonant)
• 3rd conjugation: -uv- (with hard stem-final consonant)
• 4th conjugation: -īv-

The majority of 1st and 4th conjugation verbs are regular, while 2nd and 3rd conjugation verbs (particularly 3rd conjugation) have a higher tendency to have irregular perfect stems.

Irregular perfect stems formations include:

• -ēv- (for some 2nd conjugation verbs).
• Adding -s- after the stem-final consonant (which may cause assimilation).
• Replacing -šč- with -v- and lengthening the preceding vowel if short (for 3rd declension verbs with infinitives ending in -ščere and 1S present indicative in -skō).
• Reduplication.
• Vowel lengthening with or without vowel change.
• Dropping nasal infix from present stem.
• No change from present stem.

Forms based on the supine stem

The supine stem is derived from the fourth principle part by removing the ending -ų.

Non-finite forms based on the supine stem

Form	Formation
Supine	-ų (acc.), -ū (dat./abl.)
Perfect active participle	-ęs, -entis, -entių
Perfect passive participle	-us, -a, -ų
Obligative passive participle	-ūrus, -a, -ų

For regular verbs, the supine stem is formed from the present stem as follows:

• 1st conjugation: -āt-
• 2nd conjugation: -ūt-
• 3rd conjugation: -ūt-
• 4th conjugation: -īt-

Verbs with an irregular perfect stem generally also have an irregular supine stem.

• If the perfect stem ends in a monophthong followed by -v-, the supine stem generally ends in the monophthong (lengthened if short) + -t-.
• Otherwise, the supine stem cannot be predictably derived based on the perfect stem. Possible endings (besides the already mentioned ones) include:
  • -t- (possibly with assimilation)
  • -s- (possibly with assimilation)
  • -it-

Note that some verbs with a regular perfect stem may have an irregular supine stem and vice versa.

Compound tenses

Compound tenses are formed with auxiliary verbs.

Compound tenses

Tense	Formation	Remarks
Future	present tense of īre "to go" + supine (acc.)	This can be made into a future-in-past form by instead using the appropriate past tense form of īre.
Future perfect	present tense of īre "to go" + perfect active infinitive
Compound perfect	appropriately conjugated form of avēre "to have" + past participle (acc., neuter or same gender as direct object)	A compound perfect can be formed from any tense.

Compound non-finite forms

Form	Formation
Future active infinitive	īre + supine (acc.)
Future perfect active infinitive	īre + perfect active infinitive
Future active participle	jęs, -entis + supine (acc.)

Obligative

An obligative counterpart can be made from any tense. It is formed from its declarative counterpart by replacing the main verb with the appropriately conjugated form of jessere "to be" followed by the active or passive obligative participle.

The verb jessere "to be"

The verb sų, jessere, fuvī, fūtų "to be" is one of the most important verbs, and one of the most irregular. In fact, it is the only verb whose full conjugation cannot be determined based on its principle parts.

The forms based on the perfect and supine stems are formed regularly. However, the forms based on the present stem are formed irregularly.

Non-finite forms based on the present stem

	Form
Present active infinitive	jessere
Present active participle	jessęs, -entis, -entių
Present passive participle	jessendus, -a, -ų¹
Obligative active participle	jessentūrus, -a, -ų

Finite tenses based on the present stem

	Present indicative	Present subjunctive	Imperfect indicative	Imperfect subjunctive	Imperative
1S	sų	sį	jerą	jesserę
2S	jes	sīs	jerās	jesserēs	fī¹
3S	jest	sit	jerat	jesseret
1P	sumus	sīmus	jerāmu	jesserēmus
2P	sutis	sītis	jerātis	jesserētis	fīte¹
3P	sunt	sint	jerant	jesserent

Notes:

¹ These are actually the imperative forms of fīre "to become" (principal parts: fijō, fīre, fīvī, fītų); jessere does not have its own imperative.

Other important irregular verbs

Irregular forms are underlined.

Note that class 3 has the most irregular verbs.

Important irregular verbs

Principal parts	Meaning	Remarks
First conjugation
dō, dāre, dedī, dātų	to give
stō, stāre, stitī, stātų	to stand, to stay
Second conjugation
avio, avēre, auvī, avūtų	to have
dēvio, dēvēre, deuvī, dēvūtų	to owe, have to
dēliō, dēlēre, dēlēvī, dēlētų	to destroy, erase, delete
possō, potēre, potuvī, potūtų	to be able to
Third conjugation
nāskō, nāščere, nāvī, nātų	to be born
jedō, jedere, jēdī, jēsų	to eat
facō, facere, fēcī, fattų	to do, make
ahō, ažere, jēzī, attų	to act, behave
skrīvō, skrīvere, skrīssī, skrīttų	to write
jungō, jundžere, jūnšī, jūntų	to join
dīkō, dīcere, dīššī, dīttų	to say
Fourth conjugation
jō, īre, īvī, ītų	to go
audzō, audīre, audīvī, audītų	to hear

Example Texts

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 1)

Tōtī vominēs nāskunt līverī jet jekālēs in dinnitāte jet jūrivīs. Sunt dōtātī dē rācōne jet kǫscencæ, jet dēvent ažere inter sē in frāternitātis spīritī.

[ˈtoːtʲiː ˈʋɔmʲɪnʲæːs ˈnäːskʊnt ˈlʲiːvʲɛrʲiː jɛt jɛˈkaːlʲæːs jɪn dʲɪnʲːɪˈtaːtʲe̞ jɛt ˈjuːrʲɪvʲiːs ‖ sʊnt doːˈtaːtʲiː dʲeː raːˈtsoːnʲɛ jɛt koːˈstsʲɛnʲtseː | jɛt ˈdʲɛːvʲe̞nt ˈɐʑe̞rʲe̞ ˈjɪnʲtʲɛr sʲeː jɪn fraːtʲɛrʲnʲɪˈtaːtʲɪs ˈsʲpʲiːrʲɪtʲiː]