Atlantic
Atlantic | |
---|---|
otrantih; nimba otrantiha | |
Pronunciation | [[ɔˈtrantiχ] [ˈnimba ɔˈtrantiχa]] |
Created by | Lili21 |
Date | Gen 2019 |
Setting | Alt-Earth |
Ethnicity | Atlantics (otrantihus) |
Native speakers | 66,000,000 (2017) |
Indo-European
| |
Official status | |
Official language in | Atlantic Provinces |
Map of the Republic of the Roman Atlantic Provinces. |
Atlantic (natively otrantih [ɔˈtrantiχ] or nimba otrantiha [ˈnimba ɔˈtrantiχa]) also referred to as Rumonian (natively rumon [ruˈmɔn] or nimba rumona [ˈnimba ruˈmɔna], literally "Roman" and "Roman language"[1][2]) is a Romance language spoken in an alternate history version of Earth in the Atlantic Provinces (los Pruvinxos Otrantihos [lɔs pruˈvinçɵs ɔˈtrantiχɔs]), a country located in the northwestern corner of Africa. The country's name is a remnant of Roman history, when the area – including the Atlas Mountains as its main geographical feature – was divided in the provinces of Numidia, Mauretania Caesariensis, and Mauretania Tingitana.
It has various dialects, usually grouped in main varieties corresponding to the main geographical and cultural areas of the country. In the broadest sense, there are two main varieties: Mauritanian (moiriṭonyinsi [mwariθɔˈɲinsi]), the one the standard is based on, and Numidian (numiginsi [numiˈdʑinsi]); sometimes distinguished are also two more variants which have more influences from the other national languages of the country: Teneréïc (tenerinsi [tɛnɛˈrinsi]) and Senegal Riparian (Niu-flumininsi [ˈniu̯ flumiˈninsi]). In the Atlantic Provinces, it is the native language of 63% of the population, the de facto lingua franca of the country, and one of the six official languages, sharing official status with the native languages of the remaining 37% of the population: the Berber languages in most of the country and Fula, Wolof, Soninke, and Bambara in the south. Per the 1946 Constitution, each vilaia (first-grade subdivision) of the Atlantic Provinces can declare its own official languages to be used in local acts; however, Atlantic is the only or one of the official languages in all but one (Imetɣaren Vilaia) of the 63 vilaios[3].
Atlantic is aesthetically inspired by selected sound changes in various other Romance languages, most notably Sicilian, Romansh, French, and various dialects of Lombard, especially Alpine ones(LMO). It also includes some features taken by my now-abandoned former romlang projects, Wendlandish and an unrelated romlang for the same setting, as well as some unique features, such as intervocalic voiceless stops leniting to voiceless fricatives instead of voiced stops (like the Tuscan gorgia, but here it's become phonemic).
It aims to be an extremely conservative Romance language in its morphology, with many irregularities directly deriving from Latin, and with little analogical levelling; for example, the different ways to build the perfect are maintained almost without change for nearly every inherited verb except for those in the productive first conjugation. The development of the various synthetic tenses is however almost identical to that of Portuguese, except for the innovative future and conditional which are respectively different and non-existant in Atlantic. It also maintains neuter nouns as distinct from the other two genders. It is not meant to fit with existing Romance languages in the sense I purposely took as inspirations various features from all over the Romance-speaking world, and therefore does not fit in any subgrouping; therefore, it is not to be taken as a historically plausible African Romance language.
Development
Vocalic changes
The Atlantic vocalic system was formed through an evolution that, while with many common elements with other Romance languages, was unique in having kept long and short /a/ distinct, the former shifting to /ɑ/ and later merging with surviving instances of /ɔ/. Otherwise, the development of vowels was much like Sicilian, as the table below hints at:
Latin | Early Atlantic | Modern Atlantic | Example | Cognates |
---|---|---|---|---|
A, Ā | *a, *ɑ | a, o | BARCAM → barca *paraulāre → parlori |
Sicilian barca, varca; Italian barca; French barque Sic. parrari; It. parlare; Fr. parler |
E, AE, OE | *ɛ | e (atonic: i) | VEDĒRE → viḍiri CENTRUM → centr |
Sic. vidiri; It. vedere; Fr. voir Sic. centru; It. centro; Fr. centre |
Ē, Ī, I | *i, *i, *ɪ | i | VEDĒRE → viḍiri DŌRMĪRE → durmiri SIMPLICEM → simprici |
Sic. vidiri; It. vedere; Fr. voir Sic. durmiri; It. dormire; Fr. dormir Sic. simprici; It. semplice; Fr. simple |
O | *ɔ | o | SOMNUM → son | Sic. sonnu; It. sonno; Fr. somme |
Ō, Ū, U | *u, *u, *ʊ | u | AMŌREM → amuri NUCEM → nuxi PŪNCTUM → punyt |
Sic. amuri; It. amore; Fr. amour Sic. nuci; It. noce; Fr. noix Sic. puntu; It. punto; Fr. point |
AU | *ɑw~ɒj | oi ([ɔɪ̯] (Num.) or [wa] (Maur.)) | *aucellum → oichaly | Sic. aceddu; It. uccello; Fr. oiseau |
Changes not mentioned in the above table are triggered by neighboring sounds, most particularly l and r:
- As in many Gallo-Italic varieties, Latin short a was backed and rounded before a coda l, see ALTUM → olt (cf. Lombard olt, French haut, Italian alto).
- The same result happened for ul sequences, which were lowered, see FULMEN → folmin (cf. Lom. fulmen, It. fulmine).
- Breaking of Latin short e and o happened in a more limited way than in other Romance languages where it happened; in the standard dialect, it only occurred before original r and l; however, it happened indistinctly in open and closed syllables. In the standard, it also did not happen after velar consonants, though it did happen after h; note that it happened after the palatalization of velars before front vowels, so that short e is broken almost without exceptions. In some dialects, those two vowels were also broken after n and/or after velars. The results are always ia (for broken e) and ua (for broken o), but the semivocalic i in the former merged with a preceding l, n, s, or h to ly, ny, x, and j respectively. See examples:
- Lat. CAELUM, *morit → char, muaril (cf. Fr. ciel, meurt; Lom. ciel, mœur; It. cielo, muore; Spanish cielo, muere, Portuguese céu, (morre))
- Lat. TERRAM, PORTAM → tiara, puarta (cf. Fr. terre, porte; Lom. terra, porta; It. terra, porta; Sp. tierra, puerta; Pt. terra, porta)
Dialectally, vowel breaking was more widespread. In Numidia, it remained productive late enough to affect original ul (see above), but not original al or even long a (which remained *ɑ(l) for longer) - as in fualmin for standard folmin. This usage extended to later loanwords, as in arbialg "hotel" for standard arbelg (Medieval Latin HARIBERGUM), or in the given name doublet Albert and Albiart (← ALBERTUM). In Western Mauritania and Numidia, it affected vowels after velars too (see Western Mauritanian cuardi, Numidian cuari for Standard/general Mauritanian cordi "heart", or both W.Mauritanian and Numidian cuarnu for Std. cornu (← CORNŪ)) and also vowels before n as in buan for Std. bon "good" (← BONUM). The fact these dialects break vowels before n, but still only when stressed, creates even more stem alternations in the conjugation of some verbs compared to standard Atlantic, such as spuandi, spondimu for Std. spondi, spondimu "I declare, we declare" (← SPONDEŌ, SPONDĒMUS).
Reborrowings or learned words, especially Biblical proper nouns, often created doublets, as in the given name "Peter" being usually Piatr [ˈpjatar], but Petrus [ˈpɛtrus] when referring to Saint Peter[4].
Vowel breaking was analogically extended in derivational morphology (but not inflectional) to the same root in unstressed positions, unless the two words had since diverged in meaning; for example, TERRAM and TERRŌSUM regularly gave tiara and tirus, but the latter fell from usage sometime around the 16-17th century in favour of tiarus. The same did not happen with e.g. virbus from VERBŌSUM "wordy", as the root word viarb from VERBUM shifted to the more limited usage, as in English and most European languages, of "verb".
Note that original Latin long a only merged with o later, and never underwent vowel breaking.
Also note that certain prefixes, most notably original CON- and TRĀNS-, show apparently unexpected reflexes due to analogy with other forms with different vowels. In the case of TRĀNS-, the preposition shortened the vowel and all verbal forms have the reflex of the short vowel. In the case of CON-, the different vowel in the preposition CUM (whence Atl. cu) triggered an analogical change throughout the lexicon, but this did not reach all words so that there are forms with cun/cum- and forms with con-/com-, e.g. cuntornori (to turn around, move around, encircle), cundunori (to forgive), but comeiri (to eat), condimmori (to condemn), compuṭori (to count).
Similarly, PRŌ was shortened as a preposition and the same shortening is reflected in all verbal forms and most nouns using it, like propuniri (to propose), proḍuxiri (to produce), or proviniri (to come from), but some nouns maintained the long vowel an have therefore a different reflex, e.g. prutixuni (protection), pruvisuri (sentinel).
Phonology
Consonants
→ PoA ↓ Manner |
Labial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasals | m m | n n | ny ɲ | ŋ | ||
Plosives | Voiceless | p p | t t | c, qu k | ||
Voiced | b b | d d | g, gu ɡ | |||
Affricates | ch, c tɕ j, g dʑ |
|||||
Fricatives | Voiceless | f f | s, ss s | x, h ç (x ɕ) |
h x~χ | |
Voiced | v v | s z | ||||
Liquids | r r l l |
(ly ʎ) | ||||
Approximants | u w | i, ly j |
The phonemes /ɕ ʎ/ are only found in some dialects; Standard Atlantic merges them with /ç j/ respectively (cf. oichaly "bird" /ˈwaˈtɕaj ~ waˈtɕaʎ/ or seix "six" /ˈsɛç ~ ˈsɛɕ/). In the dialects where /ɕ/ is a distinct phoneme, [ç x] are in complementary distribution, with the former occurring before front vowels and the latter elsewhere. The Canarian dialect of Cinet (Tenerife) developed a new /ɕ/ (and /ʑ/) by deaffricating the palatal affricates, e.g. chastr "city" [ˈɕastər], jarba "grass, herb" [ˈʑarba].
/l/ is realized as a voiceless lateral fricative [ɬ] word-finally and before voiceless consonants, and as its voiced equivalent [ɮ] before voiced consonants.
In standard Atlantic, voiced stops are allophonically geminated after a stressed vowel, e.g. in pubric "public" /ˈpubrik/ [ˈpubːrik], abidihu "I decline" /ˈabidiχu/ [ˈabːidiχu], or Vurubiri "Volubilis" /vuˈrubiri/ [vuˈrubːiri].
/ŋ/ is a marginal phoneme, limited to the /ŋn/ sequence, written as mm[5] as in amma /ˈaŋna/ "person", ommisantor /oŋnizanˈtɔr/ "November", or limmi /ˈliŋni/ "brown"; due to spelling pronunciation, nativized loanwords with written mm are typically pronounced with this sequence, such as the name Emma /ˈɛŋna/, with the exception of mm in Greek-derived words in gramm- (γράμμ-), where the sequence represents /m/ as if it were a single letter.
The sequence /ŋɡ/ is, in Numidia, often realized as [ŋn], which leads to it being written as mm by less educated speakers. Examples include sungu [ˈsuŋɡu ~ ˈsuŋnu] "I am" or Hungariha [χuŋˈɡariχa ~ χuŋˈnariχa] "Hungary".
/θ ð/ are extremely common in native words (continuing intervocalic Latin /t d/ respectively), however, due to their origin, they never appear word-initially in inherited words. Instances of word-initial /θ ð/ are thus limited to loanwords, such as ṭalj[ˈθaladʑ] "frost" (< Ar. ثلج) or ḍil [ðiɬ] "ghost" (< Ar. ظل).
Word-initial consonants are, for many speakers, allophonically geminated due to assimilation of a preceding consonant from a clitic. This most notably happens with aḍ:
- Fui aḍ Napuli "I was in Naples" [ˈfui̯ anˈnapuli];
- Ilu vivil aḍ Briṭonya "he lives in Great Britain" [ilu ˈviviɬ abːriˈθɔɲa].
Further phonemes are found in certain dialects only; for example, far eastern Numidian (Cirta, Hippo Regius, and neighboring areas) shares with Sicilian and Sardinian the LL → /ɖ(ɖ)/ sound change, where the other Atlantic dialects have /ʎ/ (or /j/) instead, as in /ɔjˈtɕaɖ/ for standard /waˈtɕaj ~ waˈtɕaʎ ~ ɔɪ̯ˈtɕaʎ/ oichaly "bird". Far eastern Numidian shares retroflexing sound changes with Sicilian, like [ʈɽ] for standard /tr/ (e.g. otrantih as [ɔˈʈɽɑntiχ]) and [ʂɽ] for standard /str/ (e.g. istrony "strange" as [iˈʂɽɔɲ]).
In southern Mauritania (Santa Lucia, Tarudant, Varsasat and neighboring areas), /ɕ ç~x/ have remained distinct, but the former's realization has shifted to a peculiar phone transcribed as [θ̠] (alveolar non-sibilant voiceless fricative). Like areas where it is realized as [ɕ], but unlike standard Atlantic and general Mauritanian /ç/, it does not front and/or raise following vowels, e.g. xarv "slave" [ˈθ̠arav], Std. [ˈçærav].
Vowels
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
High | i i | u u | |
Mid | e ɛ | o ɔ | |
Low | a a |
Orthography
Letter | Name | IPA | Spelling alphabet | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
A a | a [ˈa] | /a/ | A di Agripa | |
B b | bi [ˈbi] | /b/ | B di Bereniqui | |
C c | ci [ˈtɕi] | /k/, /tɕ/ | C di Cixiruni | |
Ch ch | ci-ha [ˌtɕiˈχa] | /tɕ/ | — | not a separate letter |
D d | di [ˈdi] | /d/ | D di Deura | |
Ḍ ḍ | di cû punt [ˈdi ku ˈpun] | /ð/ | di cû punt | |
E e | e [ˈɛ] | /ɛ/ | E di Euclidi | |
F f | ef [ˈɛf] | /f/ | F di Francisc | |
G g | ga [ˈɡa] | /ɡ/, /dʑ/ | G di Gluria | |
Gn gn | ga-en [ˌgaˈɁɛn] | /ŋn/ | — | not a separate letter |
Gu' gu | ga-u [ˌɡaˈɁu] | /ɡ/ | — | not a separate letter |
H h | ha [ˈχa] | /χ/, /ç/ | H di Heleni | |
I i | i [ˈi] | /i/, /j/ | I di Isabela | |
J j | gi [ˈdʑi] | /dʑ/ | J di Jussef | |
K k | capa [ˈkapa] | /k/ | capa | not an official letter, unassimilated loanwords only |
L l | el [ˈɛɬ] | /l/ | L di Loirenx | |
Ly ly | el-upsilon [ˌɛl‿ˈupːisilɔn] | /j/, dial. /ʎ/ | — | not a separate letter |
M m | em [ˈɛm] | /m/ | M di Maria | |
mm | em dulpa [ˌɛm ˈduɬpa] | /ŋn/, exceptionally /m/ | — | not a separate letter, word-medial only |
N n | en [ˈɛn] | /n/ | N di Numiari | |
Ny ny | en-upsilon [ˌɛn‿ˈupːisilɔn] | /ɲ/ | — | not a separate letter |
O o | o [ˈɔ] | /ɔ/ | O di Ostin | |
Oi oi | o-i [ˌɔˈɁi] | /wa/, dial. /ɔi̯/ | — | not a separate letter |
P p | pi [ˈpi] | /p/ | P di Pubri | |
Q q | cu [ˈku] | /k/ | Q di Quiora | in native words, only in the digraph qu |
R r | er [ˈɛr] | /r/ | R di Rahel | |
S s | es [ˈɛs] | /s/, /z/ | S di Sofia | |
ss | es dulpa [ˌɛs ˈduɬpa] | /s/ | — | not a separate letter, word-medial only |
T t | ti [ˈti] | /t/ | T di Troion | |
Ṭ ṭ | ti cû punt [ˈti ku ˈpun] | /θ/ | ti cû punt | |
U u | u [ˈu] | /u/, /w/ | U di Umbiart | |
V v | vi [ˈvi] | /v/ | V di Vinxenx | |
W w | vi dulpa [ˌvi ˈduɬpa] | /v/, /w/ | vi dulpa | not an official letter, unassimilated loanwords only |
X x | xi [ˈçi] | /ç/, dial. /ɕ/; /ks/ | X di Xarvi | |
Y y | upsilon [ˈupːisilɔn] | /i/, /j/, /ai̯/ | upsilon | not an official letter, unassimilated loanwords only (excl. ly, ny) |
Z z | xeta [ˈçeta] | /z/ | xeta | not an official letter, unassimilated loanwords only |
c, g, h
The letters c, g, h have different pronunciations depending on the following vowel:
- Before a, o, u they represent /k ɡ χ/
- Before i, e they represent /tɕ dʑ ç/
Note that the /ç/ phoneme may also be written x in all positions due to a general sound shift, representing earlier /ɕ/ when written as such. Most Numidian dialects still pronounce x as /ɕ/. In order to write the same sounds before the opposite pair of letters, the following letters or digraphs are used:
- Palatal sound + a, o, u → ch, j, x
- Velar sound + i, e → qu, gu; the sequences /χi χe/ do not exist in Atlantic.
s, x
The letter s may represent two or three different phonemes depending on dialect: /s z/ are common to all Atlantic dialects, with /z/ never occurring word-initially or word-finally and being the only one to happen before voiced consonants, and being written as s intervocalically; in this position, the only one where it contrasts with /s/, the latter is written ss.
Word-finally, /s z/ do not contrast as only the former is possible, however in the /z/ may appear in inflected forms. Despite this, and the option of a /z/ phoneme being realized as [s] word-finally being possible, the orthography does not distinguish between them and always writes s. The only word regularly written with word-final ss is the adverb press "near".
The third phoneme represented by s is /ɕ/, limited to a few Numidian dialects and only occurring before a soft c as in nosciri "to be born" /ˈnɔɕtɕiri/. These dialects' /ɕtɕ/ sequence corresponds to /stɕ/ elsewhere (cf. standard /ˈnɔstɕiri/).
The letter x represents historical /ɕ/, which has shifted to /ç/ in all dialects except for those of mountain areas and far eastern Numidia; a peculiar characteristic of the dialect of Hippo Regius in the far east of the country is the "hardening" of this sound to /ʂ/ (lu xi hipuriginsi). Word-finally, this phoneme is written as ix after vowels, and it may contrast with x in some learned Greek or Latin words which represents /ks/, with the most common minimal pair being seix "six" /sɛç ~ sɛɕ/ [sɛç ~ sɛɕ] vs. sex "sex" /sɛks/ [ˈsɛkɛs]. The only exception is for acronyms where a word-final x was word-medial in the source word; in such words, the i-less spelling is kept but with the /ç/ sound, as in soxnox "Nazi" /sɔçˈnɔç ~ sɔɕˈnɔɕ/ (acronym of soxorista noxunori).
Originally Greek given names with x may be pronounced with either /ç/ or /ks/; the latter pronunciation is more formal, but the former is more common - cf. Anaxagora /anaçaˈgɔra ~ anaksaˈgɔra/ or Xerxi /ˈçɛrçi ~ ˈksɛrksi/. However, for Arixandr and Arixandra only the pronunciation with /ç/ is used.
Epenthesis
Epenthetic unwritten vowels are found in most dialects in virtually every word-final written cluster, except for nasal+stop ones, where only the nasal is pronounced[6], with the exception of nunc and demonstratives ending in -nc, which also have epenthesis. The epenthetic vowel is always unstressed and of the same quality of the preceding vowel. They are not analyzed as phonemic.
Examples:
- olt "high, tall" (m./n. sg.) /ɔlt/ [ˈɔlɔt] (cf. olta "high, tall" (f. sg./n. pl.) /ˈɔlta/ [ˈɔɬta])
- vestr "your(s)" (m./n. sg.) /vɛstr/ [ˈvɛstɛr] (cf. vestra "your(s)" (f. sg./n. pl.) /ˈvɛstra/ [ˈvɛstra])
- agr "field"/aɡr/ [ˈaɡːar] (cf. agrus "fields" /ˈaɡrus/ [ˈaɡːrus])
- spuns "declared" (m./n. sg.) /spuns/ [ˈspunus] (cf. spunsa "declared" (f. sg./n. pl.) /ˈspunsa/ [ˈspunsa])
- punyt "point" /puɲt/ [puɲ] (cf. punytus "points" /ˈpuɲtus/ [ˈpunʲtʲʉs])
- voḍunt "they go" /ˈvɔðun/ [ˈvɔðun]
- nunc "now" /ˈnunk/ [ˈnunuk]
Note, as for /nC/ finals, that adrint "close to" does have a pronounced [t] when before the indefinite articles un and una.
Stop+stop or stop+fricative clusters at morpheme boundaries or Greek loanwords also get an epenthetic vowel, but it is usually considered to be phonemic, and it is almost always /i/. Examples include adviniri "to come" /adiviˈniri/, abcumandori "to outsource" /abikumanˈdɔri/, pterodactil "pterodactyl" /pitɛrɔˈda(ki)til/, psicologia "psychology" /pisikɔlɔˈdʑi.a/. Word-initially, written stop+nasal clusters also have this phonemic epenthesis, e.g. pneumatih "tyre" /pinɛu̯ˈmatiχ/.
Morphology
Nouns
Nouns do not inflect for case, just for number, and have different pluralization patterns inherited by the Latin declensions and their various subtypes, including those for Greek nouns. Gender is not marked on the nouns themselves, but on accompanying adjectives and articles.
Singular marker | Plural marker | Gender | Notes | Origin | Examples |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
-a | -os | mostly feminine a few masculine ones |
productive for feminine nouns | 1st declension; some masculine nouns were originally Greek. | afa → afos (water(s)) (f) poïṭa → poïṭos (poet(s)) (m) |
-ta | neuter | Greek learned borrowings | clima → climata (climate(s)) (n) | ||
-i | -is | masculine, feminine | 3rd declension (m./f. nouns) | lavuri → lavuris (work(s)) (m) parti → partis (part(s)) (f) | |
-a | neuter | 3rd declension (n. nouns) with reanalyzed stems | cordi → corda (heart(s)) (n) | ||
-inya | neuter | movable -n in the singular | 3rd declension (n. nouns) | numi → numinya (name(s)) (n) | |
-os | feminine | 1st declension for Greek nouns | ninfi → ninfos (nymph(s)) (f) | ||
-∅ | -us | masculine | productive | 2nd and 4th declension (m. nouns) | vent → ventus (wind(s)) (m) |
-a | neuter | the last consonant may be modified | 2nd declension (n. nouns), a few 3rd declension ones | nimal → nimalya (animal(s)) (n) | |
-ora | neuter | 3rd declension neuters | liṭ → liṭora (coast(s)) (n) | ||
-ira | neuter | 3rd declension neuters | laṭ → laṭira (side(s)) (n)[7] | ||
-u | -a | neuter | 4th declension (n. nouns) 2nd declension Greek neuters |
cornu → corna (horn(s)) (n) ṭeatru → ṭeatra (theatre(s)) (n) |
Vocative
Masculine given names (and a small number of common nouns) in Atlantic have a distinct vocative form. This ending, -u, is not a continuation of the original Latin vocative; instead, it can be explained as a lengthening of the final vowel of original -UM nouns, therefore reconstructing the Pre-Atlantic form as *-ū, which prevented the vowel from being dropped.
The vocative form is used, in popular speech, for every masculine given names which ends in a consonant; prescriptive grammar, however, does not accept it for the common Greek names which had a different ending (and typically end in stressed -os, -on, or -es).
Some examples:
- Cir → Ciru!
- Albert → Albertu!
- Ginnar → Ginnaru!
- Piatr → Piatru!
- Xenofon → Xenofon! (standard), Xenofonu! (colloquial)
- Diocles → Diocles! (standard), Dioclesu! (colloquial)
- Arquimedi → Arquimedi! (does not end in a consonant)
Other masculine words that take vocative -u are consonant-ending common addressing styles or names of charges such as said (Mr.), partun (Lord), chamiroṭ (Comrade), or vasir (Minister), or adjectives often used vocatively such as cor (dial. cuar) "dear".
Adjectives
Adjectives follow two different declensions, one with four distinct forms and another with three. Neuter nouns take masculine singular agreement when singular, and feminine singular when plural.
Declension | Masculine sg. Neuter sg. |
Feminine sg. Neuter pl. |
Masculine pl. | Feminine pl. |
---|---|---|---|---|
First | -∅ | -a | -us | -os |
Second | -i | -is |
First declension
- Singular ex.: charus furmus, charusa furmusa, cordi furmus = "handsome boy", "beautiful girl", "kind heart"
- Plural ex.: charusus furmusus, charusos furmusos, corda furmusa = "handsome boys", "beautiful girls", "kind hearts"
Second declension
- Singular ex.: amix viroci, amixa viroci, joixi viroci = "real friend", "real friend", "real pleasure"
- Plural ex.: amicus virocis, amixos virocis, joixa virocha = "real friends", "real friends", "real pleasures"
Comparatives and superlatives
Atlantic, unlike other Romance languages, maintained the synthetic forms for comparatives and superlatives, though it still uses the common Romance analytic forms in less formal styles:
- Formal:
- Lucia i Tecra sunt oltos. "Lucy and Thecla are tall."
- Tecra ê olxura pu Lucia. "Thecla is taller than Lucy."
- Tecra ê olxissima. "Thecla is the tallest one."
- Informal:
- Tecra ê prus olta pu Lucia. "Thecla is taller than Lucy."
- Tecra ê la prus olta. "Thecla is the tallest one."
In some mostly set phrases, the synthetic comparatives are always used, like in Il Monti Chandiḍ ê il monti olxissim di Jolya i Iṭolya. "Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in France and Italy" (never, while grammatically correct, "ê il monti prus olt").
Analytic comparatives use prus "more" (or miny "less"), the adjective, and pu introducing the comparison term (the latter also in synthetic comparatives). Analytic superlatives use the article before prus or miny, while synthetic comparatives never use the article.
Synthetic comparatives are, for all adjectives, second declension adjectives formed with -iuri (with i assimilating to the previous consonant):
- Singular: arun olxuri, turi olxura, nimal olxuri "taller student", "taller tower", "taller animal"
- Plural: arunis olxuris, turis olxuris, nimalya olxura "taller students", "taller towers", "taller animals"
Adjectives in -rCi or -lCi typically have -Criuri (e.g. charilbi "famous" → ciribriuri "more famous")
For most adjectives, synthetic superlatives are first declension adjectives in -issim:
- Singular: arun olxissim, turi olxissima, nimal olxissim "tallest student", "tallest tower", "tallest animal"
- Plural: arunis olxissimus, turis olxissimos, nimalya olxissima "tallest students", "tallest towers", "tallest animals"
Adjectives in -rCi or -lCi (-ER in Latin) form the superlative in -iarim, e.g. charilbi → ciribiarim "most famous".
Adjectives in -iri (-ILIS in Latin) form the superlative in -ilyim, e.g. faxiri "easy" → faxilyim "easiest".
Irregular forms
Some adjectives exclusively have synthetic forms which are irregular or suppletive. Often, Atlantic replaced the positive grade with a different adjective, similar to other Romance languages (as in PRESSUM, VETULUM, MINŪTUM instead of PROPINQUUM, SENEM, PARVUM), but kept the irregular forms, adding more suppletion.
Adjective | Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
---|---|---|---|
bon (dial. buan) (good') | milyuri (better) | utim (dial. oitim, autim) (best) | |
mal (bad, evil') | pijuri (worse) | pessim (worst) | |
grandi (great, large) | mojuri (greater) | maxim (greatest) | |
minuṭ (dial. parv) (small) | minuri (lesser) | minim (least) | |
murt (dial. mult) (much, many) | prus (more) | plurim (most) | |
press (near, close) | prupiuri (nearer) | proxim (nearest, next) | |
postir (next, future, following) | postiriuri (later) | postrim (last, latest) | |
vialt (dial. velt) (old, aged) | sinyuri (or an. prus vialt) (older, elder) | sinissim ('oldest, eldest') | |
juvini (young, youthful) | junyuri (or an. prus juvini) (younger) | junissim ('youngest') |
Articles, demonstratives, and possessives
The indefinite article and the possessives are inflected like first declension adjectives; the definite article and the distal demonstrative, however, have a distinct form for the neuter singular.
Type | Masculine sg. | Neuter sg. | Feminine sg. Neuter pl. |
Masculine pl. | Feminine pl. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Definite article | il | lu | la | lus | los |
Indefinite article | nu | una | unus | unos | |
This, these (non-distal) | lûnc | lânc | lûsus | lôsos | |
That, those (distal) | lûric | ludic | lâric | lûsic | lôsic |
meu, teu, seu | meu | ma | meus | mos | |
nostr, vestr | nostr | nostra | nostrus | nostros |
The remaining possessives (eiu, ilur, ilor, ipsur, ipsor), which derive from genitive forms, are not inflected.
In informal writing and speech, the articles are typically reduced, with definite articles losing the initial l (il remains the same) and indefinite una becoming na; indefinite plural articles are not used in informal speech, with arpol ("some", from Latin ALIQUOD) being used instead.
In eastern Mauritania and bordering parts of Numidia, il becomes r, with an unwritten prosthetic [i] or [e] before consonants, e.g. r om "the man" [ˈrɔm], r chat "the cat" [er‿ˈtɕat] for standard il om, il chat [(i)ɬ‿ˈɔm], [iɬ‿ˈtɕat].
Demonstratives are more complex as they vary dialectally. Standard Atlantic, Mauritania, western Numidia (as far east as Cartennae), almost all of the Sahara, and the Senegal river region use forms unique in the Romance-speaking world, derived from ILLE and HUNC, HANC, HŌS, HĀS for the non-distal and ILLIC for the distal; the remaining areas use forms in common with other Romance languages, from Vulgar Latin *eccu + ISTE for the non-distal and ILLE for the distal one. The forms of those pronouns vary according to the region; the areas around Fallaba, in southern Numidia, maintain the animacy distinction of the pronouns even in the demonstratives.
Dialect | Standard Mauritanian Western Numidian Senegal Riparian Teneréïc |
Central Numidian | Eastern Numidian | Fallaba | Agabal (Laghouat) | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Type | Non-distal | Distal | Non-distal | Distal | Non-distal | Distal | Non-distal, animate |
Non-distal, inanimate |
Distal, animate |
Distal, inanimate |
Non-distal | Distal |
Masculine singular | lûnc | lûric | cist | chaly | cist | cedd [ˈtɕeɖ(ɖ)] | quist | sist | quir | sir | apist | apely |
Neuter singular | ludic | — | — | |||||||||
Feminine singular Neuter plural |
lânc | lâric | cista | chalya | cista | cedda | quista | sista | quira | sira | apista | apelya |
Masculine plural | lûsus | lûsic | cistus | chalyus | cistus | ceddus | quistus | sistus | quirus | sirus | apistus | apelyus |
Feminine plural | lôsos | lôsic | cistos | chalyos | cistos | ceddos | quistos | sistos | quiros | siros | apistos | apelyos |
Atlantic, unlike other Romance languages with a two-way demonstrative distinction, uses the "proximal" form for medial demonstratives, which is hence termed "non-distal":
- Lûnc vixilc pu eu tenyu ê ciruly. "This car that I have is blue." (cf. Italian "Questa macchina che io ho è blu")
- Lûnc vixilc pu tu tenis ê ciruly. "That (lit. this) car that you have is blue." (cf. It. "Quella/codesta macchina che tu hai è blu")
- Ludic vixilc pu Lucia tenil ê ciruly. "That car that Lucy has is blue." (cf. It. "Quella macchina che ha Lucia è blu")
Demonstrative | Relative | Interrogative | Indefinite relative | Indefinite | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
sit-...-fuaril | ar-, arpol | ||||
basic | lûnc ... | pi? (person) piḍ? (thing) |
pi pu |
sit-pi-fuaril sit-pu-fuaril |
arpol un ... |
number | tantu | pol | sit-pot-fuaril | arpol | |
type | tori | pori? | ilpori ... | sit-pori-fuaril | alpori |
place where | ivi | uvi | sit-uvi-fuaril | arpol uvi | |
manner | sic | pundo | sit-pundo-fuaril | arpol pundo | |
time | nunc | pandu | sit-pandu-fuaril | arpandu |
Indefinite relatives follow the noun or whatever they refer to:
- Do-m duna cupalca sit-pori-fuaril. "Give me any [kind of] glass/any glass you want."
- Iṭurus sumu sit-uvi-fuaril tu viaris. "We will go anywhere you want."
Numerals
Cardinals
- 1 un (m/n), una (f)
- 2 du (m/n), dos (f)
- 3 tris (m/f), tria (n)
- 4 patol
- 5 pimpi
- 6 seix
- 7 seuti
- 8 oitu
- 9 noi
- 10 dexi
- 11 undixi
- 12 duḍixi
- 13 triḍixi
- 14 paturdixi
- 15 pindixi
- 16 siḍixi
- 17 seutendixi
- 18 oituḍixi, arch. duḍi(vi)xinti
- 19 novendixi, arch. undi(vi)xinti
- 20 vinti, arch. vixinti
- 21 vinti un (m/n), vinti una (f)
- (...)
- 30 tirjinto
- 40 pardointo
- 50 pimpointo
- 60 sixointo
- 70 seutointo
- 80 oitointo
- 90 nunointo
- 100 cent
- (...)
- 200 duxentus (m), duxentos (f), duxenta (n)
- 300 tircentus (m), tircentos (f), tircenta (n)
- 400 pardingentus (m), pardingentos (f), pardingenta (n)
- 500 pingentus (m), pingentos (f), pingenta (n)
- 600 sixentus (m), sixentos (f), sixenta (n)
- 700 seutingentus (m), seutingentos (f), seutingenta (n)
- 800 oitingentus (m), oitingentos (f), oitingenta (n)
- 900 nungentus (m), nungentos (f), nungenta (n)
- 1000 mily
- x000 ~(n) milya (e.g. 2000 du milya, 3000 tria milya)
A peculiar innovation of Atlantic is the cardinal sispiun(a) (← SĒSQUI UNUM/UNAM), meaning "one and a half".
Ordinals
Standalone ordinal numerals exist for the units 1-10, for the tens, one hundred, and one thousand:
- 1st prim
- 2nd sihund
- 3rd tiarx
- 4th port
- 5th pinyt
- 6th sest
- 7th seutim
- 8th oitov
- 9th nunim
- 10th dexim
- 20th vixisim
- 30th trixisim
- 40th pardoxisim
- 50th pimpoxisim
- 60th sissoxisim
- 70th seutoxisim
- 80th oituxisim
- 90th nunoxisim
- 100th cintisim
- 1000th milyisim
Intermediate numbers combine the ordinals of units with the ones of the tens or the immediately preceding non-zero digit, with the remaining part being the same as the cardinal:
- 11th dexim prim
- 37th trixisim seutim
- 103rd centisim tiarx
- 119th cent dexim nunim
- 200th sihund cintisim
- 240th du cintisim pardoxisim
- 244th duxenta pardoxisim port
- 1006th milyisim sest
- 1116th mily cent dexim sest
- 3000th tiarx milyisim
- 3900th tria milya nunim cintisim
- 3970th tria milya noi cintisim seutoxisim
- 3975th tria milya nungenta seutoxisim pinyt
In informal spoken language, however, for numbers from 21 onwards except those with standalone forms, it is common for all digits but the last to be cardinal, e.g. vinti prim for 21st or duxenta pimpointo sest for "256th".
Pronouns
The Atlantic pronoun system has less forms than Latin does, but is still (clitic system aside) more complex than other Romance languages. A peculiarity, shared with a few languages such as older forms of Italian, is that there is an animacy distinction in the third person pronouns, with animate forms derived from the Latin demonstratives (ILLUM, cf. It. egli, ella), and the inanimate ones derived from the emphatics (IPSUM, cf. It. esso, essa).
Person & Class / Case | Nominative | Accusative | Oblique | Possessive | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full | Clitic1 | Full | Clitic1 | |||||
1SG | eu | mi | -(u)m | mivi | -(u)mi | meu | ||
2SG | tu | ti | -(u)t | tivi | -(u)ti | teu | ||
3SG | Animate | Masculine | ilu | -ru, -lu2 | li | -(u)l | eiu | |
Feminine | ila | -ra, -la2 | ||||||
Inanimate | Masculine | ipsu | -(s)u | si | -si | |||
Neuter | ||||||||
Feminine | ipsa | -(s)a | ||||||
1PL | nus | -(u)n | nuis | -(u)nuv | nostr | |||
2SG | vus | -(u)v | vuis | -(u)vuv | vestr | |||
3SG | Animate | Masculine | ilus | -rus, -lus1 | lis | -ris, -lis1 | ilur | |
Feminine | ilos | -ros, -los1 | ilor | |||||
Inanimate | Masculine | ipsus | -(s)us | sis | -sis | ipsur | ||
Neuter | ipsa | -(s)a | ||||||
Feminine | ipsos | -(s)os | ipsor | |||||
Refl. | — | si | -(u)s | sivi | -(u)si | seu |
Table notes:
- When preceding any clitic, third person singular -l becomes -t (e.g. ilu viḍil "he sees", ilu viḍit-un "he sees us").
- The forms with -l- are used after consonants, except for t, d, or n; those with -r- after vowels and the previously mentioned consonants.
For courtesy forms, traditionally the locution la sinyuria is used (e.g. la sinyuria dixil "you [formal] say"), with third person singular agreement no matter if the referent is plural or singular. Among younger generations, French influence has made vus (e.g. vus dixiṭi as the formal equivalent of tu dixis) also common as a courtesy form.
The accusative and indirect forms most commonly used are the clitic ones. The full forms are used for emphasis and after prepositions.
- Jari viḍi-ru "I saw him yesterday"
- Jari viḍi-ra "I saw her yesterday"
- Jari viḍis-lu "You saw him yesterday"
- Cros daṭur-um iaris dil cuḍixi? "Will you give me the book tomorrow?" (note that Atlantic is secundative!)
- Cros daṭur-li iaris? "Will you give that tomorrow?"
- Du-ru dil cuḍixi "I give him the book"
- Custiṭil-umi pardointo dinoris. "It cost me 40 denarii"
Furthermore, there are the two weak adverbial pronouns an and iv. The former is used to replace indefinite, quantitative, and ablative expressions, as well as arguments introduced by di; the latter replaces locative and lative ones:
- Parlantis iromu dâ nova taviarna di vistimenta "we were talking about the new clothing shop" → Parlantis an iromu "we were talking about it"
- Amiṭa ma tenil pimpi virocha vosa sininsa "my aunt has five real Chinese vases" → Amiṭa ma an tenil pimpi "my aunt has five of them"
- – Tenis una tauleta? "do you have a tablet" – Oc, an tenyu (una) "yes, I have (one)"
- Amix meu fuara voil e insura "my friend goes out of the apartment" → Amix meu fuara an voil "my friend goes out of it"
- Iṭur sungu nôs Aṭinos "I will go to Athens" → Iv iṭur sungu "I will go there"
- Iaris nôs Sirohusos? "Are you in Syracuse?" → Oc, iv sungu "Yes, I am there"
Prepositions
(TBA)
- di (< DĒ) — of; also introduces themes of ditransitive verbs and the arguments of certain verbs. It also translates "about, concerning of".
- Ê la suari di Mateu. "it's Matthew's sister."
- Frolti meu dat-um dû vos. "my brother gives me the vase"
- Oc, quior ê pu memini di Lucia! "yes, of course I remember Lucy!"
- Ê nu cuḍixi dâ Bialya Puniha. "It is a book about the Punic Wars."
- Los ninyos nila cholyi cînt di trasmirgimenta prûs ambrantis. "The stripes in the road are called by the name of 'crossing for pedestrians'."
- Nila taviarna apiri-m di oly, pon insifiḍ, arpol uva, tir, i orivos. "In the shop I buy oil, salt-less bread, some grapes, cheese, and olives."
- Filyuar meu dimandovit-um dôs noviṭoṭis. "My son asked me about the news/what's new."
- Turi-t dil pon. "I brought you the bread."
- aḍ (< AD) – expresses motion to or state in certain places. Typically, some nouns require aḍ, usually public services, islands[8], or open spaces, plus singular names of cities and plural countries, while others require in. It also introduces gerunds.
- Sungu â staxuni. "I am at the station."
- Voḍu aḍ Midran. "I'm going to Milan."
- Suari ma vivil aḍ Britonya. "My sister lives in Great Britain."
- Nil anu proxim iṭur sungu âlos Sinos. "Next year I'll go to China."
- Ê sis mexa hura aḍ atendiri âlus missus. "He said he waited half an hour at the post office."
- in(< IN) — expresses motion to or state in certain places, including most closed buildings, singular countries, and plural names of cities (the reverse of aḍ). It also introduces many expressions of time.
- Sungu nila taviarna. "I am in the shop."
- Voḍu in Grecia. "I am going to Greece."
- Suari ma vivil nôs Sirohusos. "My sister lives in Syracuse."
- Nil anu proxim iṭur sungu âlos Sinos. "Next year I'll go to China."
- e (< EX) — expresses motion from (ablative), as well as "from" when referring to a time back in the past. It is also used for derivation or specifying a material, as well as translating "of" when it implies the result of something:
- Fuara voḍu êxa staxuni. "I go out of the station."
- Cros riviartu e Londiny. "I'm coming back from London tomorrow."
- Lûnc scupit ê êxu Sihund Bialy Glubori. "This rifle is from World War II."
- Lânc charṭeda ê e foj. "This chair is made of beech wood."
- Los nimbos rumonxos provenint êxu laṭin. "Romance languages are derived from Latin."
- Frigiranta, congiranta, iscarfomenta. La mirolca êxu elaso. "Fridges, freezers, heating. Wonders of progress."
- cu (< CUM) — expresses an instrument or a comitative argument.
- July secal arbolis câ sihuri. "Julius cuts trees with the axe."
- Prefiaru scriviri cuna pena. "I prefer to write with a pen."
- Trubu cu Tecra. "I sing with Thecla."
- tras (< TRANS) — through; among (in this case usually without article); expresses the agent in passive sentences.
- Duhu trâu chastr. "I drive through the city."
- Tecra ê la arumma prus chandinta tras crassi. "Thecla is the best/most clever student in the class."
- Lânc faita spunsa fiarunt trâl guviarn. "These deeds were promised by the government."
- Lus cuḍixis haju aḍeut doṭ tras Mateu. "The books have been given to me by Matthew."
- Ila difusit-us surxoitoṭa trâ proṭista. "She was left surprised by the protest."
- When the focus is on walking through something, or the means of transport is stated, the construction of a motion verb + tras + indirect object is typically replaced by the transitive verb trasmergiri "to cross":
- Voḍu trâ cholyi (in peḍis/cu aḍ ambrori) "I cross the road (on foot)" → Trasmergu la chalyi.
- Duhimu trâ Hilvixa "We drive across [the whole of] Switzerland" → Trasmirgimu la Hilvixa (in vixilc).
- incop (likely < *in caput) — on, over:
- Iv ê nivi incopa teita dûs eḍifixus. "There is snow on the roofs of buildings."
- Nuiros vuarant incopu chastr. "Clouds fly/float over the city."
- Il chat durmil incopil leit. "The cat is sleeping on the bed."
- sut (< SUBTUM) — below, under; with names of regnants/governors used for "during the reign/government of":
- Il chat cucoṭ ê sutta taula. "The cat is lying under the table."
- Lûnc chastr custruch fuch sut Troion. "This city was founded during the reign of Trajan."
- Inviniva nîl il curtialy, siḍ iaral suttu tistulc. "I couldn't find the knife, but it was under the napkin."
- pro (< PRŌ, with pre-Atlantic shortening of the final vowel) – for, for the benefit of; for measures. Also used as a conjunction with a supine meaning (but ut is preferred in formal usage):
- Lânc flura sunt pro tivi. "These flowers are for you."
- Los ninyos nila cholyi cînt di trasmirgimenta prûs ambrantis. "The stripes in the road are called by the name of 'crossing for pedestrians'."
- Bilyomu prâ gluria di Ruma! "We fight for the glory of Rome!"
- Lânc ê una hilnyura pro nu litr di cirivixa. "This is a glass [that can contain] one litre of beer."
- Faitur-u sungu nunc, pro cros haviri prus temp feiror. "I'll do it now, in order to have more free time tomorrow."
- Filyuara ma dimandovit-um pro eu dixissi la aliteia. "My daughter asked me to tell [her] the objective truth."
- La leva dâ agora proposiṭ hal una lixi prûs direitus varihoṭus. "It seems that the left in Parliament has proposed a law for LGBT rights."
- groxa (< GRĀTIĀ, with pre-Atlantic shortening of the final vowel) — thanks to, because of + positive experience
- Dinoji iv sunt miny muartis nilu cunolb groxa lus heurimenis nila iatria. "Today there are less [cases of] death during infancy, thanks to the discoveries in medical science."
- Groxa lu bon etiri jari vosimu âlu mari. "Because of the nice weather we went to the sea yesterday."
- Inteligi-su groxa stuxa ma. "I understand it because of my studies/what I studied."
- estra (< EXTRĀ, with pre-Atlantic shortening of the final vowel), meaning "outside" (stative), also figuratively:
- Aṭendu estra la ircexa. "I wait outside the church."
- Nila seumona proxima sissur sungu estra la tiara. "Next week I'll be abroad (lit. "outside the land")."
- Lûnc ê estra ofixa ta. "This isn't part of your duties (lit. "this is outside your duties")."
- adrint (< ADHÆRENTEM), meaning "near" (in space or time)
- Lus missus sunt adrint monxuni ma. "The post office is near my house."
- Sumu adrintâ Risureuxuni. "We are close to Easter. / Easter is near."
- Midran siṭ ê adrintil nimiṭi hilviṭih. "Milan is close to the border with Switzerland."
- controri (< CONTRĀRIUM) means "against", or "opposite to" when used with places:
- Lus partinxonus otrantihus bilyoirunt controri la higuemonia fascista. "Atlantic partisans fought against the Fascist dictatorship."
- Ilu ê tutijurn controri mi. "He's always against me."
- Monxuni ma ê controri la supirtaviarna. "My house is opposite the supermarket."
- difaxi (< DĒ FACIĒ (AD)) means "next to":
- Lus missus sunt difaxâ supirtaviarna. "The post office is next to the supermarket."
- Ilu tutijurn seḍil difaxi mi. "He always sits next to me."
- circ (< CIRCUM), meaning "around":
- Lu helicopteru vuaral circû chastr. "The helicopter flies around the city."
- Ambromu circâ pratia. "We walk around the square."
- Circ los curios dil guviarn fuch una massa di pirsunos cu aḍ proṭistori. "Around the governmental offices there was a crowd of people protesting."
- siny (< SINE), meaning "without". The siḍiri + siny structure (to be without) is frequently used where English prefers "to have no":
- Lânc caramela sunt siny sucar. "These sweets are sugar-free (lit. "without sugar").
- Possun nîl viviri siny tivi! "I can't live without you!"
- Sungu siny pihunya. "I have no money (lit. "I am without money")."
- Barban meu ê siny infantis. "My uncle has no children."
- cis (< CIS), meaning "before", also introducing subordinate clauses with subjunctive.
- Lus missus sunt cîsa taviarna. "The post office is before the shop."
- Fuṭur ê cîsa dominiha. "It will be/happen before Sunday."
- Faxi-su cis nus rivirtomu! "Do it before we come back!"
- uls (< ULS), meaning "after" (in time or introducing subordinates) or "beyond".
- La taviarna ê ursus missus. "The shop is after/beyond the post office."
- Fuṭur ê ursa dominiha. "It will be/happen after Sunday."
- Nito tutijurn lus dentis uls tu manxos! "Always brush your teeth after eating."
- Faitur-u sungu uls eu finya. "I'll do it after I finish [this]."
Table of contractions
→ Preposition ↓ Article |
di | aḍ | in | e | cu | tras | incop | sut | pro | adrint | difaxi | circ | cis | uls |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
il | dil | âl | nil | exil | cul | trâl | incopil | sut il | prôl | adrintil | difaxil | circûl | cis il | ursil |
lu | dû | âlu | nilu | êxu | cû | trâu | incopu | suttu | prû | adrintû | difaxû | circû | cîsu | ursu |
la | dâ | â | nila | êxa | câ | trâ | incopa | sutta | prâ | adrintâ | difaxâ | circâ | cîsa | ursa |
lus | dûs | âlus | nûs | êxus | cu lus (arch.) cûllus |
trâus | incopus | suttus | prûs | adrintûs | difaxûs | circ lus | cîsus | ursus |
los | dôs | âlos | nôs | êxos | cu los (arch.) cûllos |
trôs | incopos | suttos | prôs | adrintôs | difaxôs | circ los | cîsos | ursos |
nu | dun | ân | nun | exun | cun | tras un | incop un | sut un | pro un | adrint un | difaxun | circ un | cis un | uls un |
una | duna | âna | nuna | exuna | cuna | tras una | incop una | sut una | pro una | adrint una | difaxuna | circ una | cis una | uls una |
Adverbs
(TBA)
Some locational adverbs have two distinct forms: one of them lative and the other stative:
English | Lative | Stative |
---|---|---|
Outside | fuara | difuara |
Inside | intra | dintra (formerly written dîntra) |
Here | aïvi | ivi |
There | aloc | iloc |
In front of | âfronti | difronti |
Behind | âretru | diretru |
Verbs
Verbs generally have six moods: three finite (indicative, subjunctive, imperative) and three non-finite ones (infinitive, participle, gerundive). Unlike other Romance languages, Atlantic did not develop a conditional mood.
The indicative and subjunctive are composed of various simple tenses plus other compound ones, while the other moods only have a few forms (the imperative) in a single tense, or have a simple tense and a compound one. The indicative simple tenses are present, imperfect, past (from the Latin perfect), and past perfect. The subjunctive only has three: present, imperfect (from the Latin past perfect subj.), and future (from Latin future perfect ind.) - the origin of the various tenses is therefore the same as in other languages like Portuguese.
Verbs in Atlantic are typically cited with three or four principal parts: the infinitive, the 1sg present indicative, the 1sg past indicative, and the past participle; unlike Latin, but like other Romance languages, the infinitive and not the 1sg present indicative is used as citation form. The 1sg present indicative is mostly needed in cases where the root had a short E in Latin which is stressed (and kept or broken) in the 1sg present indicative form, but unstressed in the infinitive (where it therefore became /i/). An example is the verb irori "to make a mistake" ← ERRĀRE, whose 1sg present indicative form is iaru ← ERRŌ (cf. cinsiri "to think" (← CĒNSĒRE) and cinsi "I think" (← CĒNSEŌ), where this does not happen due to the different original vowel).
Only the first conjugation is still productive, and it is also the one with the fewest irregular verbs (most verbs in it have the same root in all principal parts).
The conjugations are often shared between the various dialects, though their semantic and syntactical usage may vary somewhat (especially for compound tenses). Note that Eastern Numidian, having not undergone the word-final t → l shift, has -t endings for the third-person forms (e.g. amat instead of amal for "he/she/it loves").
First conjugation
The first conjugation includes verbs whose infinitive ends in -ori (← -ĀRE).
Person | Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Imperfect | Perfect | Pluperfect | Present | Imperfect | Future | ||
1SG | amu | amova | amovi | amiara | ami | amoissi | amiaru | — |
2SG | amos | amovos | amoisti | amiaros | amis | amoissis | amiaris | amo |
3SG | amal | amoval | amovil | amiaral | amil | amoissil | amiaril | amil |
1PL | amomu | amovomu | amoimu | ameromu | amimu | amoissimu | amerimu | amimu |
2PL | amoṭi | amovoṭi | amoisti | ameroṭi | amiṭi | amoissiṭi | ameriṭi | amoṭi |
3PL | amant | amovant | amoirunt | amiarant | amint | amoissint | amiarint | amint |
Pres. participle | Past participle | Future participle | Gerundive | Infinitive | ||||
amanti | amoṭ | amoṭur | amand | amori |
Second conjugation
The second conjugation includes verbs whose infinitive ends in stressed -iri: it merges the Latin second and fourth conjugations (← -ĒRE and -ĪRE) as well as, due to influence of the first person singular of the present indicative, the reflexes of many third conjugation -IŌ verbs (like chafiu, chafiri from CAPIŌ, CAPERE) which have been reanalyzed into this conjugation, undergoing a stress change. The third person plural of the present indicative of original fourth conjugation verbs and the participles of second conjugation ones have then been altered by analogy (with original second and third conjugation forms respectively), creating this conjugation pattern.
Most second (and third) conjugation verbs are not completely regular and have a different stem in the perfect, usually inherited from Latin (cf. for the two verbs above spondi "I declare", spofondi "I declared" (← SPONDEŌ, SPOPONDĪ) and chambi "I change", chansi "I changed" (← CAMBIŌ, CAMPSĪ)). There are therefore two different possible exits for the 1SG and 3SG in the perfect, usually depending on how it was conjugated in Latin:
- Latin perfects in -ĒVĪ, -VĪ, -ĪVĪ: -ei, -isti, -eil, -imu, -isti, -irunt
- All other verbs: -i, -isti, -il, -imu, -isti, -irunt
Furthermore, the regular past participle for all second conjugation verbs is -iṭ (← -ITUM, -ĪTUM), but many verbs have irregular forms (such as spuns "promised" for spondiri). The future participle for all verbs is formed by adding -ur to the past participle.
Many second- and third-conjugation verbs have participles in -uṭ, some of them being regular formations filling for participles that did not exist in Latin. Such verbs sometimes have two possible participles, one in -uṭ and another less regular formed by analogy with other verbs, as with rifurgiri (← REFULGĒRE) having the two participles rifurguṭ (more common) or rifult; the latter was formed by analogy with indult (← INDULTUM), past participle of indurgiri, which then got a second participle indurguṭ by analogy with the previous verb. See also the third conjugation verb cunviargiri (← CONVERGERE), with a regular participle cunvirguṭ alongside the more common cunviars, formed by analogy with the unrelated VERSUM.
Person | Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Imperfect | Perfect | Pluperfect | Present | Imperfect | Future | ||
1SG | diviu | diviva | deubi | deubiara | divia | deubissi | deubiaru | — |
2SG | divis | divivos | deubisti | deubiaros | divios | deubissis | deubiaris | divi |
3SG | divil | divival | deubil | deubiaral | divial | deubissil | deubiaril | divial |
1PL | divimu | divivomu | deubimu | deuberomu | diviomu | deubissimu | deuberimu | diviomu |
2PL | diviṭi | divivoṭi | deubisti | deuberoṭi | divioṭi | deubissiṭi | deuberiṭi | diviṭi |
3PL | divint | divivant | deubirunt | deubiarant | diviant | deubissint | deubiarint | diviant |
Pres. participle | Past participle | Future participle | Gerundive | Infinitive | ||||
divinti | diviṭ | diviṭur | divind | diviri |
Person | Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Imperfect | Perfect | Pluperfect | Present | Imperfect | Future | ||
1SG | durmiu | durmiva | durmei | durmiara | durmia | durmissi | durmiaru | — |
2SG | durmis | durmivos | durmisti | durmiaros | durmios | durmissis | durmiaris | durmi |
3SG | durmil | durmival | durmeil | durmiaral | durmial | durmissil | durmiaril | durmial |
1PL | durmimu | durmivomu | durmimu | durmeromu | durmiomu | durmissimu | durmerimu | durmiomu |
2PL | durmiṭi | durmivoṭi | durmisti | durmeroṭi | durmioṭi | durmissiṭi | durmeriṭi | durmiṭi |
3PL | durmint | durmivant | durmirunt | durmiarant | durmiant | durmissint | durmiarint | durmiant |
Pres. participle | Past participle | Future participle | Gerundive | Infinitive | ||||
durminti | durmiṭ | durmiṭur | durmind | durmiri |
Third conjugation
The Atlantic third conjugation corresponds to the majority of third conjugation verbs in Latin, and their infinitive ends in unstressed -iri (← -ERE). They are the least regular, with nearly every verb in the conjugation having an irregular perfect stem and an irregular past participle. Also, the only verbs with -ei perfects Unlike other conjugations, the stress in first and second person plural forms is consistently on the stem in the tenses where the other persons are also stressed on the stem (present and past (first person only) indicative, present subjunctive, and the imperative); the distinctive first person form -umu likely arose due to the first vowel of the ending being a schwa which came to have the same quality of the following one.
Person | Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Imperfect | Perfect | Pluperfect | Present | Imperfect | Future | ||
1SG | tangu | tangiva | tiṭigi | tiṭijara | tanga | tiṭigissi | tiṭijaru | — |
2SG | tangis | tangivos | tiṭigisti | tiṭijaros | tangos | tiṭigissis | tiṭijaris | tangi |
3SG | tangil | tangival | tiṭigil | tiṭijaral | tangal | tiṭigissil | tiṭijaril | tangal |
1PL | tangumu | tangivomu | tiṭigimu | tiṭigeromu | tangomu | tiṭigissimu | tiṭigerimu | tangomu |
2PL | tangiṭi | tangivoṭi | tiṭigisti | tiṭigeroṭi | tangoṭi | tiṭigissiṭi | tiṭigeriṭi | tangiṭi |
3PL | tangunt | tangivant | tiṭigirunt | tiṭijarant | tangant | tiṭigissint | tiṭijarint | tangant |
Pres. participle | Past participle | Future participle | Gerundive | Infinitive | ||||
tangenti | toit | toitur | tangend | tangiri |
Person | Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Imperfect | Perfect | Pluperfect | Present | Imperfect | Future | ||
1SG | apeṭu | apiṭiva | apeṭei | apiṭiara | apeṭa | apiṭissi | apiṭiaru | — |
2SG | apeṭis | apiṭivos | apiṭisti | apiṭiaros | apeṭos | apiṭissis | apiṭiaris | apeṭi |
3SG | apeṭil | apiṭival | apeṭil | apiṭiaral | apeṭal | apiṭissil | apiṭiaril | apeṭal |
1PL | apeṭumu | apiṭivomu | apeṭimu | apiṭeromu | apeṭomu | apiṭissimu | apiṭerimu | apeṭomu |
2PL | apeṭiṭi | apiṭivoṭi | apiṭisti | apiṭeroṭi | apeṭoṭi | apiṭissiṭi | apiṭeriṭi | apeṭiṭi |
3PL | apeṭunt | apiṭivant | apeṭirunt | apiṭiarant | apeṭant | apiṭissint | apiṭiarint | apeṭant |
Pres. participle | Past participle | Future participle | Gerundive | Infinitive | ||||
apiṭenti | apiṭiṭ | apiṭiṭur | apiṭend | apeṭiri |
The verb fairi (← FACERE), faxu, fixi, fait "to do, make" is a regular third conjugation verb, except for it having contracted forms in the infinitive and in the 2SG and 3SG indicative present; all other forms are regular. The same principle extends to the same forms of the verb voiri (← VĀDERE) "to go", however, it is irregular due to suppletion in other moods and tenses.
Inchoative verbs are all third conjugation ones, and their infinitive ends in unstressed -esciri [-ˈɛstɕiri]. Their past always has [-sk-]] (e.g. amesqui "I started to love", amesquisti "you started to love"), and their past participles are regular -esciṭ, -esciṭur. Most of them are derived by other verbs, but some have unique meanings (e.g. cunyussesciri "to meet someone for the first time", or locutions with impersonal verbs such as (tempora) hiviarnescunt "winter is starting" (lit. "times start to winter")).
To be (siḍiri), to have (haviri), and other irregular verbs
The verbs "to be" (siḍiri ← ASSIDĒRE, most of the conjugation from SUM, parts from FĪŌ, participles also from ASSIDEŌ) and "to have" (haviri ← HABĒRE) are irregular. The former is deeply suppletive (inheriting many irregularities from Latin); the latter is functionally a second conjugation verb with widespread irregularities due to contraction and analogy.
Person | Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Imperfect | Perfect | Pluperfect | Present | Imperfect | Future | ||
1SG | sungu | iara | fui | fiara | siu fïa |
fussi | fiaru | — |
2SG | iaris | iaros | fusti | fiaros | sis fïos |
fussis | fiaris | es |
3SG | ê | iaral | fuch | fiaral | sil fïal |
fussil | fiaril | fïal |
1PL | sumu | iromu | fuimu | firomu | simu fiomu |
fussimu | firimu | fiomu |
2PL | siṭi | iroṭi | fusti | firoṭi | siṭi fioṭi |
fussiṭi | firiṭi | esti |
3PL | sunt | iarant | ferunt | fiarant | sint fïant |
fussint | fiarint | fïant |
Pres. participle | Past participle | Future participle | Gerundive | Infinitive | ||||
siḍenti | sis | sissur fuṭur |
siḍend | siḍiri |
Of the two future participles, sissur is used when in a locative sense, otherwise fuṭur is used. In the present subjunctive, the fïa ones are used when the meaning is optative, which leads to them being used as imperatives:
- Spiru pu fioṭi sihurus. "I hope you may be safe." (cf. spiru pu siṭi sihurus which makes the sentence assume the alternate meaning of sihur, "sure" - "I hope you are sure")
- Fioṭi sihurus! "May you be safe!"
- Esti sihurus! "Be safe!"
Numidian dialects, especially Eastern Numidian, use a different conjugation in the present indicative: sungu/sunyu - sî - ê/iê/guiê - simu - siṭi - sunt.
Person | Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Imperfect | Perfect | Pluperfect | Present | Imperfect | Future | ||
1SG | haju | hiva | hoibi | haviara | heia | hoibissi | haviaru | — |
2SG | hais | hivos | hoibisti | haviaros | heios | hoibissis | haviaris | hai |
3SG | hal | hival | hoibil | haviaral | heial | hoibissil | haviaril | heial |
1PL | havimu | hivomu | hoibimu | haveromu | heiomu | hoibissimu | haverimu | heiomu |
2PL | haviṭi | hivoṭi | hoibisti | haveroṭi | heioṭi | hoibissiṭi | haveriṭi | haviṭi |
3PL | hant | hivant | hoibirunt | haviarant | heiant | hoibissint | haviarint | heiant |
Pres. participle | Past participle | Future participle | Gerundive | Infinitive | ||||
haventi | haiṭ | haiṭur | havend | haviri |
Note that, exclusively when expressing possession, the regular verb tiniri is usually the preferred one for "to have", e.g. tenyu du infantis = haju du infantis "I have two children". However, compound tenses exclusively use forms of haviri.
Forms of haviri are usually pronounced without the initial consonant when used as auxiliary, e.g. aḍeut haju [aˈðɛu̯t‿ˌadːʑu] "I received".
The verb dori (to give) has a monoconsonantal stem, except for 1SG present indicative which is extended like in siḍiri. The subjunctive has been remodeled after the new 1SG present indicative, but the inherited forms (marked with a dagger) are attested in archaic texts:
Person | Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Imperfect | Perfect | Pluperfect | Present | Imperfect | Future | ||
1SG | dungu | dova | deḍi | diḍiara | dunga den† |
diḍissi | diḍiaru | — |
2SG | dos | dovos | deḍisti | diḍiaros | dungos dis† |
diḍissis | diḍiaris | do |
3SG | dal | doval | deḍil | diḍiaral | dungal del† |
diḍissil | diḍiaril | dungal del† |
1PL | damu | dovomu | diḍimu | diḍiromu | dungomu dimu† |
diḍissimu | diḍirimu | dungomu dimu† |
2PL | daṭi | dovoṭi | diḍisti | diḍiroṭi | dungoṭi diṭi† |
diḍissiṭi | diḍiriṭi | daṭi |
3PL | dant | dovant | diḍirunt | diḍiarant | dungant dent† |
diḍissint | diḍiarint | dungant dent† |
Pres. participle | Past participle | Future participle | Gerundive | Infinitive | ||||
donti | doṭ | doṭur | dand | dori |
The verb stori, stungu, steṭi, staṭ (to stand) follows the same conjugation; however, it is literary, replaced in parts of its conjugation by sistiri, sistu, steṭi, staṭ:
Person | Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Imperfect | Perfect | Pluperfect | Present | Imperfect | Future | ||
1SG | sistu stungu |
sistiva stova |
steṭi | stiṭiara | sista stunga sten† |
stiṭissi | stiṭiaru | — |
2SG | sistis stos |
sistivos stovos |
steṭisti | stiṭiaros | sistos stungos stis† |
stiṭissis | stiṭiaris | sto |
3SG | sistil stal |
sistival stoval |
steṭil | stiṭiaral | sistal stungal stel† |
stiṭissil | stiṭiaril | sistal stungal stel† |
1PL | sistimu stamu |
sistivomu stovomu |
stiṭimu | stiṭiromu | sistomu stungomu stimu† |
stiṭissimu | stiṭirimu | sistomu stungomu stimu† |
2PL | sistiṭi staṭi |
sistivoṭi stovoṭi |
stiṭisti | stiṭiroṭi | sistoṭi stungoṭi stiṭi† |
stiṭissiṭi | stiṭiriṭi | staṭi |
3PL | sistunt stant |
sistivant stovant |
stiṭirunt | stiṭiarant | sistant stungant stent† |
stiṭissint | stiṭiarint | sistant stungant stent† |
Pres. participle | Past participle | Future participle | Gerundive | Infinitive | ||||
sistenti stonti |
staṭ | staṭur | sistend stand |
sistiri stori |
The same -ngu form in the 1SG present indicative is also found as an alternate, less formal form for the second conjugation verb sciri "to know" (scingu instead of more formal/written language sciu).
The verb fiariri (to bring) has regular inflections (except for 2SG and 3SG present indicative and 2SG/2PL imperative), but is suppletive:
Person | Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Imperfect | Perfect | Pluperfect | Present | Imperfect | Future | ||
1SG | fiaru | firiva | turi | turiara | fiara | turissi | turiaru | — |
2SG | fiars | firivos | turisti | turiaros | fiaros | turissis | turiaris | fiar |
3SG | fiart | firival | turil | turiaral | fiaral | turissil | turiaril | fiaral |
1PL | fiarumu | firivomu | turimu | tureromu | fiaromu | turissimu | turerimu | fiaromu |
2PL | fiariṭi | firivoṭi | turisti | tureroṭi | fiaroṭi | turissiṭi | tureriṭi | fiarti |
3PL | fiarunt | firivant | turirunt | turiarant | fiarant | turissint | turiarint | fiarant |
Pres. participle | Past participle | Future participle | Gerundive | Infinitive | ||||
firenti | loṭ | loṭur | firend | fiariri |
The verb meminiri (to remember) is the only perfect-present Latin verb which remains irregular in Atlantic by having mixed forms: the original, morphologically perfect forms remain in the first person singular and third person plural, while the other ones are rebuilt following the present of the third conjugation. It remains deponent with no synthetic past but with newly formed participles and infinitive.
Person | Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Imperfect | Perfect | Pluperfect | Present | Imperfect | Future | ||
1SG | memini | miminiva | mimint sungu | mimint iara | miminenti siu | mimint fussi | mimintur siu mimintur fiaru |
— |
2SG | meminis | miminivos | mimint iaris | mimint iaros | miminenti sis | mimint fussis | mimintur sis mimintur fiaris |
— |
3SG | meminil | miminival | mimint ê | mimint iaral | miminenti sil | mimint fussil | mimintur sil mimintur fiaril |
— |
1PL | meminumu | miminivomu | mimintus sumu | mimintus iromu | miminentis simu | mimintus fussimu | miminturus simu miminturus firimu |
— |
2PL | meminiṭi | miminivoṭi | mimintus siṭi | mimintus iroṭi | miminentis siṭi | mimintus fussiṭi | miminturus siṭi miminturus firiṭi |
— |
3PL | meminirunt | miminivant | mimintus sunt | mimintus iarant | miminentis sint | mimintus fussint | miminturus sint miminturus fiarint |
— |
Pres. participle | Past participle | Future participle | Gerundive | Infinitive | ||||
miminenti | mimint | mimintur | miminend | meminiri |
The third person plural present and the first and second person plural imperfect forms are in speech virtually always contracted to memmirunt, mimmivomu, mimmivoṭi [ˈmɛŋnirun], [miŋniˈvɔmu], [miŋniˈvɔθi].
The verb oiri (to speak, say, tell) is an Atlantic innovation, suppletive as made from three Latin roots - ĀIŌ, LOQUOR, and FOR:
Person | Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Imperfect | Perfect | Pluperfect | Present | Imperfect | Future | ||
1SG | fual | lofiva | ai | lofiara | fial' | lofissi | lofiaru | — |
2SG | foris | lofivos | aîsti | lofiaros | firis | lofissis | lofiaris | fori |
3SG | foril | lofival | ail | lofiaral | firil | lofissil | lofiaril | firil |
1PL | fomu | lofivomu | aîmu | loferomu | fimu | lofissimu | loferimu | fimu |
2PL | fomiṭi | lofivoṭi | aîsti | loferoṭi | fimiṭi | lofissiṭi | loferiṭi | fomiṭi |
3PL | fant | lofivant | aîrunt | lofiarant | fent | lofissint | lofiarint | fent |
Pres. participle | Past participle | Future participle | Gerundive | Infinitive | ||||
lofenti | lohuṭ | lohuṭur | lofend | oiri |
The verb possiri (to be able to), mostly inherited from POSSUM, POSSE, unlike other verbs, wasn't regularized and even lost forms, so that it is defective and relies on participles for all forms except for the present and imperfect indicative and the non-finite ones:
Person | Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Imperfect | Perfect | Pluperfect | Present | Imperfect | Future | ||
1SG | possun | poṭiara | potiṭ sungu | potiṭ iara | poṭenti siu | potiṭ fussi | potiṭur siu potiṭ fiaru |
— |
2SG | poṭis | poṭiaros | potiṭ iaris | potiṭ iaros | poṭenti sis | potiṭ fussis | potiṭur sis potiṭ fiaris |
– |
3SG | poṭ | poṭiaral | potiṭ ê | potiṭ iaral | poṭenti sil | potiṭ fussil | potiṭur sil potiṭ fiaril |
– |
1PL | possumu | poṭiromu | potiṭus sumu | potiṭus iromu | poṭentis simu | potiṭus fussimu | potiṭurus simu potiṭus firimu |
– |
2PL | poṭesti | poṭiroṭi | potiṭus siṭi | potiṭus iroṭi | poṭentis siṭi | potiṭus fussiṭi | potiṭurus siṭi potiṭus firiṭi |
– |
3PL | possunt | poṭiarant | potiṭus sunt | potiṭus iarant | poṭentis sint | potiṭus fussint | potiṭurus sint potiṭus fiarint |
– |
Pres. participle | Past participle | Future participle | Gerundive | Infinitive | ||||
poṭenti | potiṭ | potiṭur | poṭend | possiri |
The verb vialyiri "to want" is irregular, inherited from Latin:
Person | Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Imperfect | Perfect | Pluperfect | Present | Imperfect | Future | ||
1SG | vuaru | voriva | vuli | vulyara | viari | vulissi | vulyaru | — |
2SG | vis | vorivos | vulisti | vulyaros | viaris | vulissis | vulyaris | vialy |
3SG | vult | vorival | vulil | vulyaral | viaril | vulissil | vulyaril | viaril |
1PL | vorumu | vorivomu | vulimu | vuleromu | virimu | vulissimu | vulerimu | virimu |
2PL | vultis | vorivoṭi | vulisti | vuleroṭi | viriṭi | vulissiṭi | vuleriṭi | vialyiṭi |
3PL | vuarunt | vorivant | vulirunt | vulyarant | viarint | vulissint | vulyarint | viarint |
Pres. participle | Past participle | Future participle | Gerundive | Infinitive | ||||
vorenti | voriṭ | voriṭur | vorend | vialyiri |
The verb voiri (to go) is a new suppletive from two different Latin verbs, VĀDERE (which gives the infinitive, present participle, indicative present, indicative past, and the imperative) and ĪRE. The infinitive is a contracted form from earlier voḍiri (cf. fairi from faxiri).
Person | Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Imperfect | Perfect | Pluperfect | Present | Imperfect | Future | ||
1SG | voḍu | iva | vosi | ira | ja | issi | iru | — |
2SG | vois | ivos | vosisti | iros | jos | issis | iris | voi |
3SG | voil | ival | vosil | iral | jal | issil | iril | jal |
1PL | voḍumu | ivomu | vosimu | iromu | jomu | issimu | irimu | jomu |
2PL | voḍiṭi | ivoṭi | vosisti | iroṭi | joṭi | issiṭi | iriṭi | voḍiṭi |
3PL | voḍunt | ivant | vosirunt | irant | jant | issint | irint | jant |
Pres. participle | Past participle | Future participle | Gerundive | Infinitive | ||||
voḍenti | iṭ | iṭur | ivund | voiri |
Deponent verbs
Deponent and defective verbs have been partially regularized, that is, they have been rendered true active verbs in the present and imperfect indicative and in the subjunctive, but only have analytic forms for the past and pluperfect. Therefore, they all look like Latin semi-deponent verbs.
All deponent verbs in Atlantic are third conjugation verbs.
There are less deponent verbs than in Latin, but most of them are quite commonly used:
- aḍipisciri "to get, obtain" (also auxiliary) ~ aḍipiscu, aḍeut
- fruiri "to enjoy" ~ fruu, fruit
- groltiri "to thank" ~ groltu, groṭ (dialectally non-deponent groltori/groṭurori, groltu/groṭuru, groltovi/groṭurovi, groṭuroṭ)
- ispiariri "to experience" ~ ispiaru, ispiart
- meminiri "to remember" ~ memini, mimint
- obrivisciri "to forget" ~ obriviscu, obriṭ
- opiniri "to think, judge" ~ opinu, opinoṭ (dialectally non-deponent opinori, opinu, opinovi, opinoṭ)
- oriri "to appear" ~ oriu, ort
Periphrastic forms
Atlantic verbs, in addition to the synthetic forms listed above, conjugate using an array of periphrastic forms, here with trubori "to sing"[9] as an example verb:
- Present continuous: present participle + present of siḍiri
- e.g. trubanti sungu "I'm singing"
- Past continuous: present participle + imperfect of siḍiri
- e.g. trubanti iara "I was singing"
- Past reportative (for most verbs) / simple past (for formerly deponent verbs): past participle + present of haviri (transitive verbs)/siḍiri (intransitive)
- e.g. truboṭ hal "[it's said that] (s)he sang" — aḍeut haju "I got" — iṭ ê "[it's said that] (s)he went"
- Pluperfect reportative (for most verbs) / pluperfect (for formerly deponent verbs): past participle + imperfect of haviri (transitive verbs)/siḍiri (intransitive)
- e.g. truboṭ hival "[it's said that] (s)he had sung" — aḍeut hiva "I had got" — iṭ iaral "[it's said that] (s)he had gone"
- Future: future active participle + present of siḍiri
- e.g. truboṭur sungu "I will sing"
- Future perfect: future active participle + iṭur (or fuṭur) + present of siḍiri
- e.g. truboṭur iṭur/fuṭur sungu "I will have sung"
In the dialects of Eastern Numidia and coastal Central Numidia, the future is built the same way as in Sicilian and Sardinian, with haviri aḍ plus the infinitive:
- haju aḍ trubori = truboṭur sungu
- haju aḍ haviri truboṭ = truboṭur iṭur sungu
The passive forms are also formed periphrastically, with a passive participle and the corresponding forms of siḍiri:
- Present: truboṭ ê "it is [being] sung"
- Imperfect: truboṭ iaral "it was [being] sung"
- Past: truboṭ fuch "it has been/was sung"
- Pluperfect: truboṭ fiaral "it had been sung"
- Future: truband ê "it will be sung"
- Future perfect: truband iṭur/fuṭur ê "it will have been sung"
Some verbs like cîri "to call, name", or verbs such as apiri-s "to buy" when used reflexively (see below for that case), are intransitive and can't build an actual passive, but a passive meaning form is made by using the third person plural, e.g. cînt-u di amuri "it is called 'love' ~ they call it 'love'".
Uniquely among Romance languages, Atlantic has "pseudo-passive" forms which use aḍipisciri (to get, deponent) as an auxiliary verb: they are used with ditransitive verbs, and cast focus on the theme, as Atlantic being secundative means that in true passive forms it's the recipient which becomes subject. However, unlike in true passive forms, the theme is not the subject, and the verb conjugates for the (usually unstated) recipient:
- Present: aḍipiscu doṭ "it is given [to me]"
- Imperfect: aḍipisciva doṭ "it was given [to me]"
- Past: haju aḍeut doṭ "it has been/was given [to me]"
- Pluperfect: hiva aḍeut doṭ "it was been given [to me]"
- Future: aḍeutur sungu doṭ "it will be given [to me]"
- Future perfect: aḍeutur iṭur/fuṭur sungu doṭ "it will have been given [to me]"
Compare the three forms in this examples:
- Active: Lucia deḍil Francisc dûs cuḍixis.
Lucia (subj.) gave Francis (recip.; obj.) the books (theme; ind. obj.). - Passive: Francisc doṭ fuch lus cuḍixis tras Lucia.
Francis (subj.) was given the books (obj.) by Lucia (agent). - Pseudo-passive: Lus cuḍixis hal aḍeutus doṭus Francisc tras Lucia.
The books (synt. obj.) were given to Francis (subj.) by Lucia (agent).
In the last sentence, we can note that the auxiliary form of haviri is in the third person singular, agreeing with "Francis", while the participles are masculine plural, agreeing with "the books".
Some verbs often used in the reflexive, like the above mentioned apiri-s "to buy" (its actual object is the beneficiary, which is treated as being reflexive in the majority of cases this verb is used in, e.g. apiri-m di arpol pon "I buy [myself] some bread"), are actually ditransitive and follow the same argument pattern as dori, and are usually passivized in all three ways, with the third person plural being predominant when there's no stated agent:
- Apirunt-us di tria quilugrama di orisa. "Three kilograms of rice are bought."
- Apisiṭ fui dil pon tras mama ma. "I have been bought the bread by mom."
- Il pon haju aḍeut apisiṭ tras mama ma. "The bread has been bought for me by mom."
Epistemic modality is expressed through four different constructions, with either the infinitive or a content clause. In order of probability, they are possiviri ê, poṭ siḍiri, proisiviri ê, and divil siḍiri:
- Possiviri ê Lucia trubanti siḍiri./Possiviri ê pu Lucia trubanti sil. "Lucy might be singing."
- Poṭ siḍiri Troion comeiri./Poṭ siḍiri, pu Troion comeḍal. "Trajan may be eating."
- Proisiviri ê Deura durmiri./Proisiviri ê, pu Deura durmial. "Deborah should be sleeping/probably sleeps."
- Divil siḍiri Cornily scîri./Divil siḍiri, pu Cornily scial. "Cornelius must know [about it]."
Syntax
Purpose
Purpose is expressed by subjunctive clauses introduced by ut (in formal styles) or pro:
- Lus partinxonus bilyoirunt ut los Pruvinxos Otrantihos eleuterisoṭos fussint.
[lus partiɲˈçɵnus biˈjwarun ut lɔs pruˈvinçɵs ɔˈtrantiχɔs ɛlɛu̯tɛriˈzɔθɔs ˈfusin]
DEF.MASC.PL. partisan-PL. fight-IND.PAST.3PL. in_order_to. DEF.FEMM.PL. province-PL. Atlantic-PL. free-PART.PAST.FEMM.PL. be.SUBJ.PAST.3PL.
Partisans fought in order to free the Atlantic Provinces. - Nitomu lu scriutolb ut aciferimu il vasir.
[niˈtɔmu lu skriu̯ˈtɔlɔb ut‿atɕifɛˈrimu ɮ‿vaˈzir]
clean-IND.PRES.3PL. DEF.NEUT.SG. office.SG. in_order_to. receive-SUBJ.FUT.3PL. DEF.MASC.SG. minister.SG.
We are cleaning the office in order to receive the Minister. - Tantost intirnolcos, divi voiri â taviarna pro apixaru-m dil tun i dûs tasartus.
[tanˈtɔsɔt intirˈnɔɬkɔs divi ˈvwari a‿taˈvjarna prɔ‿a̯piˈçærum diɬ‿ˈtun i dus‿taˈzartus]
as_soon_as. arrive-IND.PRES.2SG. have_to-IND.PRES.1SG. go-INF. to-DEF.FEMM.SG. shop-SG. in_order_to. buy-SUBJ.FUT.1SG=REFL.1SG. of-DEF.MASC.SG. tuna.SG. and. of.DEF.MASC.PL. fig-PL.
As soon as you arrive, I have to go to the shop to buy tuna and figs.
Conditional sentences
Not having a conditional mood, unlike most other Romance languages, Atlantic uses the indicative or the subjunctive mood in conditional clauses. The if-clause is introduced by si:
- Si vois aḍ Midran, visur iaris il Dom.
[si‿ˈvwas am‿miˈdran viˈzur ˌjaris iɮ‿ˈdɔm]
if. go.IND.PRES.2SG. to. Milan. see.PART.FUT.MASC.SG. be.IND.PRES.2SG. DEF.MASC.SG. cathedral.SG.
If you go to Milan, you'll see the Domm. - Si incharis la afa uls cent graḍus, bulyiṭura ê.
[s‿inˈtɕaris l‿ˈafa ˈulus ˌtɕɛŋ‿ˈɡraðus bujiˈθura ˌɛ]
if. warm-IND.PRES.2SG. DEF.FEM.SG water.SG. beyond. one_hundred. degree-PL. boil.PART.FUT-FEM.SG. be.IND.PRES.3SG.
If you heat water over 100 degrees, it will boil. - Si iaros, lu iaruri apirceutur iaris.
[si ˈjarɔs lu jaˈruri apirtɕeu̯ˈtur ˌjaris]
if. make_a_mistake-IND.PRES.2SG DEF.NEUT.SG mistake.SG. note.PART.FUT-MASC.SG. be.IND.PRES.2SG.
If you make a mistake, you'll notice it.
Speculative conditional sentences use the past or future subjunctive in their if-clause (as in most Romance languages) and, contrary to sentences such as the above ones, the present (not the future, nor the imperfect) indicative in the main clause:
- Si fussi cu fami, voḍu â jonya.
[si ˈfusi ku‿ˈfami ˈvɔðu a‿ˈdʑɔɲa]
if. be.SUBJ.PAST.1SG. with. hunger.SG go.IND.PRES.1SG. to.DEF.FEMM.SG. restaurant.SG.
If I were hungry, I'd go to the restaurant. - Si hoibissimu la pihunya, apirimu-n duna charuha novialya.
[si χwaˈbisimu la piˈχuɲa aˈpirimun duna tɕaˈruχa nɔˈvjaja]
if. have.SUBJ.PAST-1PL. DEF.FEMM.SG. money.SG buy.IND.PRES-1PL.SUBJ=1PL.RECIP. PAT-INDEF.FEMM.SG. car.SG new-FEMM.SG.
If we had [enough] money, we'd buy a new car. - Si haverimu la pihunya, apirimu-n duna charuha novialya.
[si χavɛˈrimu la piˈχuɲa aˈpirimun duna tɕaˈruχa nɔˈvjaja]
if. have.SUBJ.FUT-1PL. DEF.FEMM.SG. money.SG buy.IND.PRES-1PL.SUBJ=1PL.RECIP. PAT-INDEF.FEMM.SG. car.SG new-FEMM.SG.
If we'll have [enough] money, we'll buy a new car.
Past speculative conditionals use the pluperfect subjunctive in the if-clause and the past subjunctive in the main one:
- Si heri sisa fussi cu fami, issi â jonya.
[si ˈçeri ˈsisa‿ˌfusi ku‿ˈfami isi a‿ˈdʑɔɲa]
if. yesterday. been.PART.PASS-FEMM.SG. be.SUBJ.PAST.1SG. with. hunger.SG go.SUBJ.PAST.1SG. to.DEF.FEMM.SG. restaurant.SG.
If yesterday I had been hungry, I'd have gone to the restaurant. - Si atent hoibissil, viḍissimu-n.
[si aˈtɛnt χwaˈbisiɬ viðiˈsimun]
if. waited.PART.PASS.MASC.SG. have.SUBJ.PAST.3SG. see.SUBJ.PAST-1PL.SUBJ=1PL.OBJ.
If he had waited, we would have seen each other.
Reported speech
Like other Romance languages, in Atlantic references shift in reported speech: the present tense becomes an imperfect; the past becomes pluperfect; the future either remains future or becomes a future-in-the-past, formed with the future participle and the past of siḍiri.
- Afiari la puarta.
[aˈfjari la‿ˈpwarta]
open-IND.PRES.1SG. DEF.FEM.SG. door.SG.
I open the door. - Annunxoṭa dixil, pu ila afirival la puarta.
[anunˈçɵθa ˈdiçiɬ pu ˈila afiˈrivaɬ la‿ˈpwarta]
Annunziata. say.IND.PAST.3SG. that. 3SG.ANIM.FEM. open-IND.IMPF.3SG. DEF.FEM.SG. door.SG.
Annunziata said that she opened/was opening the door. - Jari comisis orisa?
[ˈdʑari kɔˈmizis ɔˈriza]
yesterday. eat.IND.PAST-2SG. rice.SG.
Did you eat rice yesterday? - Ginnar dimandovit-um, si eu comixara orisa il jurn inanx.
[dʑiˈnar dimanˈdɔvitum si ˈɛu̯ kɔmiˈçæra ɔˈriza iɮ‿ˈdʑurun iˈnanaç]
Gennaro. ask-IND.PAST-3SG=1SG.ACC. if. 1SG.NOM. eat.IND.PLUPERF.1SG. rice.SG. DEF.MASC.SG. day.SG. before.
Gennaro asked me if I had eaten rice the day before. - Cros comisura sun orisa.
[ˈkrɔs kɔmiˈzura‿ˌsun ɔˈriza]
tomorrow. eat.PART.FUT-FEM.SG. be.IND.PRES.1SG. rice.SG.
I will eat rice tomorrow. - Charmiala dixit-umi, pu cros ila comisura ê orisa.
[tɕarˈmjala ˈdiçitumi pu ˈkrɔs ˌila kɔmiˈzura‿ˌɛ ɔˈriza]
Carmen. say-IND.PAST-3SG=1SG.DAT. that. tomorrow. 3SG.ANIM.FEM. eat.PART.FUT-FEM.SG. be.IND.PRES.3SG. rice.SG.
Carmen told me that she'll eat rice tomorrow. - Charmiala dixit-umi, pu ila comisura fuch orisa il jurn sifenti.
[tɕarˈmjala ˈdiçitumi pu ˌila kɔmiˈzura‿ˌfutɕ ɔˈriza iɮ‿ˈdʑurun siˈfɛnti]
Carmen. say-IND.PAST-3SG=1SG.DAT. that. 3SG.ANIM.FEM. eat.PART.FUT-FEM.SG. be.IND.PAST.3SG. rice.SG. DEF.MASC.SG. day.SG. following.MASC.SG.
Carmen told me that she would have eaten rice the following day.
Indirect statements with the infinitive
In the most formal Atlantic styles, a construction in imitation of Latin syntax is used for indirect statements, using the bare infinitive:
- Aprovu ti fairi-su.
[aˈprɔvu ti ˈfaɪ̯rizu]
like-IND.PRES-1SG. 2SG.OBJ. do-INF=3SG.MASC.INAN.OBJ.
I like that you do it. - Trista sungu ila cunsihuṭa siḍiri nîl.
[ˈtrista ˈsuŋɡu ˌila kunsiˈχuθa siˈðiri‿ˌniɬ]
sad-FEM.SG be.IND.PRES.1SG. 3SG.FEM.SUBJ. managed-FEM.SG. be-INF=NEG.
I'm sad that she didn't manage to do it. - Aprovu ti fait haviri-su.
[aˈprɔvu ti ˈfaɪ̯t χaˈvirizu]
like-IND.PRES-1SG. 2SG.OBJ. do.PART.PAST.MASC.SG. have-INF=3SG.MASC.INAN.OBJ.
I like that you did it. - Sciu Lucia vintura siḍiri.
[ˈstɕiw luˈtɕi.a vinˈtura siˈðiri]
know-IND.PRES-1SG. Lucy. come-PART.FUT-FEMM.SG. be-INF.
I know Lucy is coming.
In many cases, less formal styles prefer the subjunctive:
- Nixissori ê eu dori-t dâ pihunya.
[niçiˈsɔri ɛ ɛu̯ ˈdɔrit da piˈχuɲa]
necessary-NEUT.SG. is.IND.PRES.3SG 1SG.SUBJ. give-INF-2SG.OBJ of.FEMM.SG. money-FEMM.SG.
It is necessary that I give you money. - Nixissori ê pu dunga-t dâ pihunya.
[niçiˈsɔri ɛ pu ˈduŋɡat da piˈχuɲa]
necessary-NEUT.SG. is.IND.PRES.3SG that. give-SUBJ.PRES.1SG-2SG.OBJ of.FEMM.SG. money-FEMM.SG.
It is necessary that I give you money.
Vocabulary
The vast majority of Atlantic vocabulary is composed by inherited Latin words; compared to other Romance languages, Atlantic has been more resistant to borrowings than all of them except for Sardinian and Central Italian. Many Atlantic words have cognates, often with similar meanings, in other Romance languages:
Atlantic | Portuguese | Spanish | Catalan | French | Lombard | Italian | Sicilian | Romanian | English |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
oichaly | ave | ave | ocell | oiseau | usell | uccello | aceḍḍu | pasăre | bird |
ircexa | igreja | iglesia | església | église | gesa, cesa | chiesa | chiesa | biserică | church |
coluri | cor | color | color | couleur | color | colore | culuri | culoare | colour |
chariḍ | quente | caliente | calent | chaud | cold | caldo | caudi | cald | hot |
laiti | leite | leche | llet | lait | lacc | latte | latti | lapte | milk |
comeiri, comeḍiri | comer | comer | menjar | manger | mansgià | mangiare | manciari | mânca | to eat |
However, Atlantic, due to its conservativeness, maintained many Latin roots that have otherwise disappeared from Romance languages, excluding reborrowings or derivations (fiariri "to bring" from FERRE; jolb "yellow" from GALBUM, hirnya "jug" from HIRNEAM, aḍipisciri "to obtain, get" from ADIPISCĪ, foḍina "mine" from FODĪNAM), or shows less semantic drift (CIVITĀTEM → civiṭoṭi maintained the meaning of "country" instead of shifting to "city" as in many other related languages). Quite often, on the contrary, Atlantic also innovated its own derivations that are not shared with other Romance languages, either through unique semantic drifts (CASTRUM "military camp" → chastr "city"; ANIMAM "soul" → amma "person"; EDENDA "to be eaten" → iḍenda "food"; CŪNĀBULUM "cradle" → cunolb "childhood"; (AGENDUM) PRŌNŪNTIĀTUM → pronunxoṭ "scheme, organization, programme") or through derivations (*lucicula → luxirca "lamp"; *scriptabulu → scriutolb "office", *rẹscula → riscura "thing").
As far as borrowings are concerned, the primary sources of borrowings into Atlantic are Arabic (which was the administrative and cultural languages in the Atlantic Provinces from the 8th to the 15th century) and the Berber languages it has always coexisted with. Arabic borrowings are very common in the sphere of nature and food (barcuga "plum", dilfa "oleander", nilufar "water lily", mausa "banana", xarab "drink"), geography and especially navigation (the four cardinal points: xamal "North", xarc "East", janub "South", garb "West"; vadi "stream"; buhaira "lagoon"), science and certain crafts (hicaiat "folklore", caraba "amber", quitab "scientific text", nafi "stove", quirtan "tar"), certain activities and places, especially related to positions of power (malic "king", cadi "judge", said "Mr.", vasir "minister", suc "market", hasis "luxury"), while Berber borrowings are more limited to daily life and certain natural formations (igrem "village", agadir "castle", lala "Madam", tamasirt "belongings", idurar "mountain chain", reg "rocky desert", aga "bucket", tavalt "juniper", tasart "fig"). Other languages of the Atlantic provinces are mostly represented by borrowings related to nature, as with words such as cacatar "chameleon", gnas "measles", guende "lion" or guilem "camel", all from Wolof.
Direct borrowings from other Romance languages are very limited and mostly from Sicilian (taliori "to look at", scros "unripe", possibly at an earlier time charus "boy") or Neapolitan (cucori "to lie down", turquin "light blue, turquoise"), while others are less represented (as with avantaix "advantage" or hostaria "bar"[10] from French; trubori "to sing" from Occitan; galaria "gallery" from Italian).
Numidian dialects have more lexical influences from the languages of Southern Italy, resulting in forms such as previti "priest" or picirily "small" (cf. Neap. prévëtë, piccirillë) instead of standard (Mauritanian) prestri, minuṭ.
More common are calques from other Romance languages (or from English or for international words), often with different roots (French calques include for example asurori "atelier", surxoitori "to surprise" (surprendre), discori "DJ" (disquaire), partiṭ "political party" (partie); English ones include peḍi-pilirca "football" or art cholyiha "street art"; internationalisms with differing roots include for example supirtaviarna "supermarket", chastrinsism "urbanism", guinequism "feminism"). There are calques also from other sources, such as the primary Atlantic greeting, paix cu tivi and the variants paix cu vuis and paix câ sinyuria ([may] peace[11] [be] with you), being a calque of Arabic as-salāmu ʿalaykum[12].
The most significant source of learned words is Ancient Greek, due to the modern standard koiné having been developed mostly from Mauritanian dialects but by Illuminism-era linguists which had a fascination for Ancient Greek: such coinages are particularly prominent in the first modern-era Atlantic dictionary (the Deixunori dâ Nimba Otrantiha of 1766) and most of them have been used in the koiné since, with a select number of them spreading to the everyday language (guineca "woman", heurimen "discovery"). Most Ancient Greek reborrowings have however a learned origin, such as halma "heartbeat", apocrima "refusal", drasi "efficacy", elaso(n) "progress", eleuteria "freedom", elilameni "civilization", iatria "medicine", sinfero(n) "common cause"). Many internationalisms of Greek origin also maintain a form closer to the original, including neuter gender, -ta plurals and movable nu when applicable (tropaio(n) "trophy", stadio(n) "stadium", ṭeatro(n) "theater", helicoptero(n) "helicopter").
Often there are doublets of Greek and Latin forms, where the Latin forms are used in more concrete or common senses, while the more abstract senses use the Greek word. For example paix is used for "peace, calm, tranquillity", while the ideal of peace is ireni[13]; similarly, livirṭoṭi denotes the absence of momentary constraints, while eleuteria is the word used for the freedom of a person, a people, or a country.
Even in modern day colloquial Atlantic, calques are preferred to borrowings, and some "hyperpurist" words, sometimes coined back from Latin roots, emerge at the expense of English or French internationalisms; for recent examples, see idemulc "selfie" (Lat. ĪDEM + -ulc ← -ŪCULUM) and the derived verb idemulcori-s; genti "smartphone" (clipping of tilefon intiligenti); tenia "malware" (from the word for "tapeworm, taenia", itself a Renaissance reborrowing from Lat. TÆNIA); valy igni "firewall" (equiv. to Lat. VALLUM ĪGNEUM); precalcuroṭ "budget" (equiv. to Lat. *præcalculātum, possibly influenced by Modern Greek προϋπολογισμός); tuṭurolb "tutorial" (equiv. to Lat. *tūtorābulum); cunfirmolc "voucher" (equiv. to *cōnfirmāculum); advirtenti "ad" (English calque, equiv. to Lat. ADVERTENTEM). Some of these are not exclusive to Atlantic, see e.g. surixi "(computer) mouse", using the same word for the animal (Lat. SŌRICEM), while in other cases Atlantic uses the same Latin root, but "adapted" to Atlantic in order to fit with native suffixes and roots: a major example is the word spunsuri for "sponsor", coined after the English by taking the same Latin word and effectively mimicking how the word would have evolved if it had been inherited, in order to fit with the existing cognate word spuns and the suffix -uri.
In a few cases, the adaptation to Atlantic of foreign loanwords creates interesting cases where the resulting word has no Latin root, but uses otherwise nativized roots whose foreign origin is not apparent to native speakers, as with hatm-roidus "hashtag" (literally "bars' stamp", with the Atlantic word for "stamp" (hatm) being an Arabic borrowing and the one for "bar" (roid) an early (Medieval) Greek one, from ῥάβδος).
Days and months
The days of the week in Atlantic derive from the standard pre-Christian Roman names, including, unlike in sister languages, the name for Saturday, which still refers to Saturn:
English | Atlantic | Gender | IPA |
---|---|---|---|
Sunday | dominiha | f | [dɔˈminiχa] |
Monday | diluni | m | [diˈluni] |
Tuesday | dimarti | m | [diˈmarti] |
Wednesday | dimircuri | m | [dimirˈkuri] |
Thursday | dijovi | m | [diˈdʑɔvi] |
Friday | diveniri | m | [diˈvɛniri] |
Saturday | dissaṭurni | m | [disaˈθurni] |
On the other hand, the months of the year for the most part have names that are quite different from the other Romance languages, though except for August they parallel those found in Sardinian:
English | Atlantic | Gender | IPA |
---|---|---|---|
January | joinori | m | [dʑwaˈnɔri] |
February | firvori | m | [firˈvɔri] |
March | morx | m | [ˈmɔrɔç] |
April | arpili | m | [arˈpili] |
May | moi | m | [mwa] |
June | santjoni | m | [sanˈdʑɔni] |
July | triturxuni | f | [triturˈçʉni] |
August | sunxuni | f | [sunˈçʉni] |
September | chafutany | n | [tɕafuˈtaɲ] |
October | nurtixuni | f | [nurtiˈçʉni] |
November | ommisantor | m | [ɔŋnizanˈtɔr] |
December | noṭori | m | [nɔˈθɔri] |
All dates are read with ordinal numerals preceded by the masculine article il (standing for il jurn "the day") followed by di plus the definite article of the month name. Thus, June 23 is il vixisim tiarx dil santjoni, August 9 is il nunim dâ sunxuni, or September 30 is il trixisim dû chafutany. In the Atlantic calendar, it has remained customary to use charenda (a retroformation from lat. Kalendæ) for the first day of the month and idus (plurale tantum, masculine unlike in Latin) for the thirteenth one (generalized also to those months whose Ides were on the fifteenth day in the Roman calendar). So for example February 1 is la charenda dil firvori and October 13 is lus idus dâ nurtixuni.
The main festivities (excluding those of other ethnic groups) in the Atlantic Provinces are the following ones, mostly related to Catholic tradition:
- los Charendos (New Year's Day - January 1)
- la Epifanya (Epiphany - January 6)
- la Motrunoria i la Feira di Morx (Matronalia and Feriae Martis - March 1)
- la Risureuxuni (Easter)
- la Paxuni (Good Friday)
- la Dominiha dâ Risureuxuni (Easter Sunday)
- la Condixuni di Ruma (Day of the Founding of Rome - April 21)
- il Jurn dû Lavuri (Labour Day - May 1)
- il Jurn di Sant Joni (St. John's Day - June 24)
- la Neutunoria, sivi Jurn dû Mari i dôs Afos (Neptunalia, or Day of the Sea and Waters - July 23)
- la Sunxuni dâ Virgini (Assumption of Mary - August 15)
- il Jurn di Sant Ostin (St. Augustine's Day - August 28)
- il Jurn di Tuṭus lus Santus (All Saints' Day - November 1)
- il Jurn dâ Immahuroṭa Cunceuxuni (Immaculate Conception - December 8)
- il Jurn di Santa Lucia (St. Lucy's Day - December 13)
- la Noiviṭoṭi (Christmas - December 25)
- il Jurn di Sant Stefan (St. Stephen's Day - December 26)
- il Postrim dil ann (New Year's Eve - December 31)
Texts
La Amanti di Malgromi
Atlantic translation of the beginning of Sicilian writer Giovanni Verga's short story "L'Amante di Gramigna"(IT).
- Fuch e prus pu murtus annus pu aḍilic, tangenti lu Simetu, viniṭovant nu fuaralixi, tol Malgromi, si non iaru, nu numi maldeit pundo la jarba pu fiart-u, pu exun nimiṭi dâ pruvinxa aḍuspil oltr diseuriara il tiruri di foma sa.
- Charaviniris, miriṭis i efiṭis insefivant-ru e du minsis, siny aḍipisciri di puniri supra dilu manus ilur: sul iaral, siḍ variva pro dixi, i la mala jarba amminossoval di murtiprihori-s.
- I aḍend ê pu intirnolcovant la tempora dâ messi, tuṭa la culyiuxuni dil ann â voruntoṭi dil Sinyuri, cumpu lus possiḍentis impirilcovant-us nîl cu fuara aḍ voiri exil igrem exil pavuri aḍ Malgromi; pro lûnc la lomenta iarant sparsa.
- Il prifeit hoibil tuṭus lus saidus dâ pestura, dûs charaviniris, i dûs cunsuartis di miriṭia advohoṭus, i suviṭu voḍesquirunt patrulyos, turmilcos, pruvisuris aḍ pempi fossoṭ i diretru pempi murilc: viniṭovant-ru âfronti ilur pundo una bestia mala tras una pruvinxa tuṭa, nil jurn, nila noiti, tras peḍis, tras chavoly, trâu telegrafo.
- Malgromi isdiroltoval e manus ilur, oi rispondiva tras spara, si ambrovant-ul nimis nûs surcus. Nôs camponyos, nûs igremus, trâus agrus, suttos tendos dôs jonyos, los ammos parlovant nîl di oltr pu di ilu, di Malgromi, di lâric vinoxuni pirsistenti, di lâric ivoxuni dispiroṭa.
- Lus chavolyus dûs charaviniris chaḍivant faṭihoṭus pundo muartus fussint; lus cunsuartis di miriṭia cucovant-us finiṭus incopu poiment, in tuṭa la efilya; lus patrulyos durmivant sistentis tras peḍis; ilu sul, Malgromi, non iaral vioḍaniuna faṭihoṭ, non durmival vioḍaniuna, tutijurn bilyoval, ascindival rufis, corifival trôs messis, tras patol peḍis curival trâus tasartus-cactus simurantis sirvos, pirfurtivoval pundo nu luf fussil trâus leitus oriḍus dûs vadis.
- Tras duxenta milya incircu curival la faula di oitus eiu, di animusiṭoṭi, viris eiu, di lâric luita dispiroṭa, ilu sul contru mily, faṭihoṭ, famint, ors trâ siṭi, nâ proniṭoṭi imminsa, orsa, sut il sul dil santjoni.
- Peppa, una trôs charusos prus furmusos in Licodia, divival mariṭori in lânc tempora cunsuarti Finu "chandira di siv" pu tiniva tiaros âl sul i una xamila baḍia nû efil, i iaral un bunjuvini grandi i furmus pundo il sul, pu firiva lu vixily di Santa Margariṭa pundo nu pilastr fussil, siny prihoment dûs lumbus.
The North Wind and the Sun (il Vent dil Xamal i il Sul)
- Un jurn, il vent dil xamal i il sul iarant cu aḍ discuṭiri di pori e ambus fussil lu prus forti, pandu aprufimpovat-us un vioṭihuri cuna toa chariḍa.
- Concordoṭus fuarunt pu lu prim, pu cunsihuṭ fussil aḍ fairi pu il vioṭihuri tolyissil la toa, cunsiḍiroṭ fiaril prus forti dil oltr.
- Dindi il vent dil xamal suflesquil, forti pundo poṭiara, siḍ cumprus sufloval prus il vioṭihuri istringivat-us nila toa; i nil fini il vent dil xamal cessovil cû isfuarx. Dindi il sul chandesquil chariḍomenti, i suviṭu il vioṭihuri susturil la toa.
- Sic il vent dil xamal deubil concordori, pu il sul iaral lu prus forti e ambus.
The Ant and the Grasshopper (la Furmiha i la Ucusta)
- Nun champ, nun jurn dâ istoṭi, una ucusta ival cu aḍ soltori ivi i aḍilic, i cricoval i truboval sifenti cordi seu. Una furmiha aprufimpovat-us, cu aḍ fiariri cu isfuarx una rista e furment pu firenti iara âu coi.
- "Pupro non venis pro oiri cu mivi," dixil la ucusta, "loh di sic lavurori?"
- "Sungu cu aḍ juvori ut acumurimu iḍenda prôl hiviarn," dixil la furmiha, "i cunsilyu-t fairi lu meṭissim."
- "Pupro distrampilyori-s exil hiviarn?" dixil la ucusta; "nunc tinimu iḍenda avundanta." Siḍ la furmiha pirstiṭil inanx in iṭir seu cû isfuarx.
- Pandu tempora hiviarnesquirunt la ucusta tinival nîl iḍenda niuna i difusit-us cu aḍ moriri êxa fami, cu ila aḍ viḍiri los furmihos compartintis la furmenta êxa sifosiṭa culyiuta nila istoṭi.
- Sic scîsquil la ucusta: Ê milyuri pirparori-s prâ tempora di nixissiṭoṭi.
UDHR Article 1
- Tuṭos los ammos noscunt eleuteros i iforos in dinyiṭoṭi i direitus.
- Duṭoṭos sunt di raxuni i cunxenxa i divint feriri-s cul oltr seu nun spiriṭ di froltiriṭoṭi.
Notes
- ^ Inside the Atlantic Provinces, "Atlantic" is commonly used as the demonym for the nation as a whole, composed of many ethnic groups. The majoritary of such groups, Romance speakers, are instead referred to (and refer to themselves) as rumonus (lit. Romans). The Roman foundation of the Atlantic state is also reflected in names such as the Republic's official name, "Republic of the Roman Atlantic Provinces" (Rimpubriha dôs Pruvinxos Otrantihos Rumonos) and the parliament's official name, "Senate of Atlantic Rome" (Sinoṭ di Ruma Otrantiha), as well as in the state motto being the Atlantic translation of SPQR (Il Sinoṭ i lu Vulg di Ruma). An addendum to the Constitution clarifies that the references to Rome in such names refer to Rome as a synonym for the State's name, with the Atlantic Provinces having a (currently mostly dormant) claim of being the successor state to the Roman Empire; the current Constitution makes no reference to the Romance-speaking population as Romans, mentioning instead that no person is to be discriminated for their ethnicity and that the "Atlantic, Berber, Fula, Wolof, Soninke, and Bambara languages are the official languages of the nation".
- ^ As a side note, in Atlantic, the adjective for people from Rome and their speech is rumonisc; the one for Romansh is reto-rumonih; the one for Romagnol is rumon-adrioṭih; the one for Romanian is daxinsi or less commonly daxu-rumon or daxu-rumonih.
- ^ The four vilaios on the Senegal River are the only ones where Fula, Wolof, and Soninke are official; Bambara is only official in those four as well as neighboring Nema Vilaia.
- ^ See Matthew 16, 18: I eu dihu-t: Tu iaris Petrus, i incopa lânc piarta eḍifihoṭur sungu ma Ircexa.
- ^ Excluding, as often happens, proper names like Bonnunx (archaic term for "Gospel") /bɔŋˈnunuç/), or etymological spellings of function words such as nyentminy "nevertheless" /ɲɛŋˈniɲ/).
- ^ In some cases, the consonant is still analyzed as a phoneme in those words due to it appearing when inflected. In others, themselves inflections, the consonant never appears and is only written because of etymological spelling.
- ^ And iṭir → iṭinira "adventure(s)"
- ^ But note in Sardinya and in Sixilya.
- ^ Occitan borrowing, replaced inherited caniri.
- ^ Cf. native hospitolc, which retained the meaning of "inn".
- ^ The most common word for "peace" today is the Greek reborrowing ireni, but in this set phrase paix is still the only form used.
- ^ The response, however, is i tant cu tivi/cu vuis/câ sinyuria (and with you too), which is not a calque.
- ^ With the exception of certain religious set phrases, which use paix.