Chelsian
Chelsian (Native: čelsa linga /ˈtɕɛɫsa ˈlʲɪŋɡɐ/, čelsōrų linga /tɕɛɫˈsoːruː ˈlʲɪŋɡɐ/) is a highly conservative Romance language with Baltic influence.
| Chelsian | |
|---|---|
| čelsōrų linga | |
| Pronunciation | [tɕɛɫˈsoːruː ˈlʲɪŋɡɐ] |
| Created by | Shariifka |
Indo-European
| |
Early forms | Classical Latin
|
Introduction
Etymology
From Latin celsus.
Features
Phonological
- Preserves original vowel length and quality.
- Preserved long nasal vowels into its recent history, then merged them with plain long vowels (but they are kept distinct in writing).
- Original velars became alveolar/dental fricatives/affricates before /i/ and postalveolar fricatives/affricates before /e/.
- This is because palatalization before /i/ and before /e/ occurred separately at different times.
- Original labiovelars became plain velars in all positions.
- Innovated hard/soft consonant distinction.
- Glide v- inserted before word-initial o- (long or short).
- Glide j- inserted before word-initial e- and i- (long or short).
- Original au preserved as a diphthong.
- Original ae merged with long e in most cases, but was kept distinct in 1st declension noun inflectional endings (later merged in pronunciation but without palatalization).
- This may have actually been through an intermediate phase -āī rather than descending directly from Classical Latin -ae.
- Original oe merged with long e in all cases.
Grammatical
- Preserves case inflection.
- No articles.
- Modifier precedes noun.
Phonology
Orthography
| Grapheme | Sound (IPA) | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| a | [ɐ] | |
| ā | [äː] | |
| ą | ||
| e | [ɛ ~ e̞] | [ɛ] before hard consonants. [e̞] before soft consonants and word-finally. |
| ē | [æː ~ ɛː ~ eː] | [æː] before hard consonants. [ɛː] before soft consonants. [eː] word-finally. |
| ę | ||
| æ | ||
| i | [ɪ] | /jɪ/ word-initially. |
| ī | [iː] | /jiː/ word-initially. |
| į | ||
| o | [ɔ] | |
| ō | [oː] | |
| ǫ | ||
| u | [ʊ] | |
| ū | [uː] | |
| ų | ||
| y | [ɪ] | Used to represent unpalatalized /ɪ/ and /iː/ in loanwords (especially word-initially). |
| ȳ | [iː] |
| Grapheme | Sound (IPA) | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| ai | [äɪ̯] | |
| au | [ɐʊ̯] | |
| ei | [ɛɪ̯] | |
| eu | [e̞ʊ̯] | |
| oi | [ɔɪ̯] | |
| ou | [ɔʊ̯] | |
| ui | [ʊɪ̯] |
| Grapheme | Sound (IPA) | |
|---|---|---|
| Hard | Soft | |
| b | b | bʲ |
| c | t̪͡s̪ | t͡sʲ |
| č | t͡ʃ | t͡ɕ |
| ch | x | xʲ |
| d | d̪ | dʲ |
| dz | d̪͡z̪ | d͡zʲ |
| dž | d͡ʒ | d͡ʑ |
| f | f | fʲ |
| g | ɡ | ɡʲ |
| h | ɦ | ɣʲ |
| j | — | j |
| k | k | kʲ |
| l | ɫ | lʲ |
| m | m | mʲ |
| n | n̪ | nʲ |
| p | p | pʲ |
| r | r | rʲ |
| s | s̪ | sʲ |
| š | ʃ | ɕ |
| t | t̪ | tʲ |
| v | ʋ | vʲ |
| z | z̪ | zʲ |
| ž | ʒ | ʑ |
Consonants are always palatalized (soft) before ⟨e, ē, ę, i, ī, į⟩. Before ⟨a, ā, ą, æ, o, ō, ǫ, u, ū, ų⟩, palatalization is denoted by inserting an ⟨i⟩ between the consonant and the vowel.
Uniquely, ⟨j⟩ is always palatalized regardless of position.
Consonants
Vowels
Prosody
Stress
Stress generally follows Classical Latin rules. However, contracted forms retain stress on the same syllable that is stressed in the corresponding uncontracted form, or on the syllable it is absorbed into.
Intonation
Phonotactics
Morphophonology
Morphology
Nouns
First declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | -(i)a | -(i)æ |
| genitive | -(i)æ | -(i)ārų |
| dative | -(i)æ | -(i)āvīs, -(i)ais |
| accusative | -(i)ą | -(i)ās |
| ablative | -(i)ā | -(i)āvīs, -(i)ais |
| vocative | -(i)a | -(i)æ |
Second declension
| Case | Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| m. | n. | m. | n. | |
| nominative | -(i)us | -(i)ų | -ī | -(i)a |
| genitive | -ī | -(i)ōrų | ||
| dative | -(i)ō | -īs | ||
| accusative | -(i)ų | -(i)ōs | -(i)a | |
| ablative | -(i)ō | -īs | ||
| vocative | -e | -(i)ų | -ī | -(i)a |
Third declension
| Case | Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| m./f. | n. | m./f. | n. | |
| nominative | (various) | -ēs | -(i)a | |
| genitive | -is | -(i)ų | ||
| dative | -ī | -ivīs, -īs | ||
| accusative | -ę | (same as nom.) | -ēs | -(i)a |
| ablative | -e | -ivīs, -īs | ||
| vocative | (same as nom.) | -ēs | -(i)a | |
Fourth declension
| Case | Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| m./f. | n. | m./f. | n. | |
| nominative | -(i)us | -(i)ū | -(i)ūs | -(i)uva |
| genitive | -(i)uvis, -(i)ūs | -(i)uvų, -(i)ų | ||
| dative | -(i)uvī, -(i)ui | -(i)uvīs, -(i)uis | ||
| accusative | -(i)ų | -(i)ū | -(i)ūs | -(i)uva |
| ablative | -(i)ū | -(i)uvīs, -(i)uis | ||
| vocative | -(i)us | -(i)ū | -(i)ūs | -(i)uva |
Fifth declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| m./f. | m./f. | |
| nominative | -ēs | -ēs |
| genitive | -ei | -ērų |
| dative | -ei | -ēvīs, -eis |
| accusative | -ę | -ēs |
| ablative | -ē | -ēvīs, -eis |
| vocative | -ēs | -ēs |
Pronouns
Personal pronouns
Notes:
¹ The cases have been reordered for convenience, since nominative & accusative forms are often identical as are dative & ablative. The vocative has been excluded since it is always identical to the nominative except in the 3SM, where it is isse.
² In addition to undeclined genitives, personal pronouns have declined possessive forms.
| Person | Number | Gender | Nominative | Accusative | Genitive | Possessive | Dative | Ablative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | sg. | all | jehō | mē | mejī, mei | mejus, -a, -ų | mivī, mī | |
| pl. | all | nōs | nostrī | nostrus, -a, -ų | nōvīs, nois | |||
| 2 | sg. | all | tū | tē | tuvī, tui | tuvus, -a, -ų | tivī, tī | |
| pl. | all | vōs | vostrī | vostrus, -a, -ų | vōvīs, vois | |||
| 3 | sg. | m. | issus | issų | issījus | issījus, -a, -ų | issī | issō |
| f. | issa | issą | issījus | issījus, -a, -ų | issī | issā | ||
| n. | issud | issījus | issījus, -a, -ų | issī | issō | |||
| pl. | m. | issī | issōs | issōrų | issōrus, -a, -ų | issīs | ||
| f. | issæ | issās | issārų | issārus, -a, -ų | issīs | |||
| n. | issa | issījus | issōrų, -a, -ų | issīs | ||||
| Reflexive | all | – | sē | suvī, sui | suvus, -a, -ų | sivī, sī | ||
Demonstrative pronouns
| Case | Singular | Plural | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| m. | f. | n. | m. | f. | n. | |
| Nominative | istus | ista | istud | istī | istæ | ista |
| Genitive | istījus | istōrų | istārų | istōrų | ||
| Dative | istī | istīs | ||||
| Accusative | istų | istą | istud | istōs | istās | ista |
| Ablative | istō | istā | istō | istīs | ||
| Vocative | iste | ista | istud | istī | istæ | ista |
| Case | Singular | Plural | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| m. | f. | n. | m. | f. | n. | |
| Nominative | illus | illa | illud | illī | illæ | illa |
| Genitive | illījus | illōrų | illārų | illōrų | ||
| Dative | illī | illīs | ||||
| Accusative | illų | illą | illud | illōs | illās | illa |
| Ablative | illō | illā | illō | illīs | ||
| Vocative | ille | illa | illud | illī | illæ | illa |
Adjectives
First/second declension adjectives
Declined as first/second declension pronouns with regular masculine nominative singular.
| Case | Singular | Plural | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| m. | f. | n. | m. | f. | n. | |
| nominative | -(i)us | -(i)a | -(i)ud | -ī | -(i)æ | -(i)a |
| genitive | -ījus | -(i)ōrų | -(i)ārų | -(i)ōrų | ||
| dative | -ī | -īs | ||||
| accusative | -(i)ų | -(i)ą | -(i)ud | -(i)ōs | -(i)ās | -(i)a |
| ablative | -(i)ō | -(i)ā | -(i)ō | -īs | ||
| vocative | -e | -(i)a | -(i)ud | -ī | -(i)æ | -(i)a |
Third declension adjectives
Declined as 3rd declension nouns.
| Case | Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| m./f. | n. | m./f. | n. | |
| nominative | (various) | (various) | -ēs | -(i)a |
| genitive | -is | -(i)ų | ||
| dative | -ī | -ivīs, -īs | ||
| accusative | -ę | (same as nom.) | -ēs | -(i)a |
| ablative | -e | -ivīs, -īs | ||
| vocative | (same as nom.) | -ēs | -(i)a | |
Numerals
| Cardinal | Ordinal | |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | nūllus, -a, -ų | nūllēsmus, -a, -ų |
| 1 | ūnus, -a, -ų | prīmus, -a, -ų |
| 2 | duvō, -æ, -ō¹ | sekundus, -a, -ų |
| 3 | trēs, tria, trių | tercus, -a, -ų |
| 4 | kattūr | kārtus, -a, -ų |
| 5 | cīnke | kīntus, -a, -ų |
| 6 | šeš | šeštus, -a, -ų |
| 7 | settę | settimus, -a, -ų |
| 8 | vottō | vottāvus, -a, -ų |
| 9 | novę | nōnus, -a, -ų |
| 10 | dečę | dečēsmus, -a, -ų |
| 11 | ūndcį | ūndcimus, -a, -ų |
| 12 | dōdcį | dōdcimus, -a, -ų |
| 13 | tredcį | tredcimus, -a, -ų |
| 14 | kattūrdcį | kattūrdcimus, -a, -ų |
| 15 | kīndcį | kīndcimus, -a, -ų |
| 16 | sēdcį | sēdcimus, -a, -ų |
| 17 | settendcį | settendcimus, -a, -ų |
| 18 | vottōdcį | vottōdcimus, -a, -ų |
| 19 | novendcį | novendcimus, -a, -ų |
| 20 | vīzintī | vīčēsmus, -a, -ų |
| 21 | vīzintī ūnus, -a, -ų | vīzintī prīmus, -a, -ų |
| 30 | trīzintā | trīčēsmus, -a, -ų |
| 40 | kadrāzintā | kadrāčēsmus, -a, -ų |
| 50 | cīnkāzintā | cīnkāčēsmus, -a, -ų |
| 60 | šeššāzintā | šeššāčēsmus, -a, -ų |
| 70 | settāzintā | settāčēsmus, -a, -ų |
| 80 | vottōzintā | vottōčēsmus, -a, -ų |
| 90 | nōnāzintā | nōnāčēsmus, -a, -ų |
| 100 | čentų, -ī | čentēsmus, -a, -ų |
| 200 | duvō čenta, -ārų | duvō čentēsmus, -a, -ų |
| 1000 | mīlle | mīllēsmus, -a, -ų |
| 2000 | duvō mīllia, duvōrų mīllių | duvō mīllēsmus, -a, -ų |
| 10⁶ | mīllijō, -ōnis | mīllijōnēsmus, -a, -ų |
| 2×10⁶ | duvō mīllijōnēs, duvōrų mīllijōnių | duvō mīllijōnēsmus, -a, -ų |
| 10⁹ | mīllijardus, -ī | mīllijardēsmus, -a, -ų |
| 2×10⁹ | duvō millijardī, duvōrų millijardōrų | duvō mīllijardēsmus, -a, -ų |
Notes:
¹ Declined as follows:
| Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| m. | f. | pl. | |
| Nominative | duvō | duvæ | duvō |
| Genitive | duvōrų | duvārų | duvōrų |
| Dative | duvōvīs, duvois | duvāvīs, duvais | duvōvīs, duvois |
| Accusative | duvōs | duvās | duvō |
| Ablative | duvōvīs, duvois | duvāvīs, duvais | duvōvīs, duvois |
This declension is shared by ambō, -æ, -ō "both".
Verbs
Verbs are split into four conjugations that can be identified by their present active infinitive endings:
- 1st conjugation: -(i)āre
- 2nd conjugation: -ēre
- 3rd conjugation: -ere
- 4th conjugation: -īre
Principal parts
The full conjugation of all verbs (except the verb jessere "to be") can be derived from their principal parts.
The principle parts are:
- 1st person singular present indicative - from which the secondary present stem is derived
- Present active infinitive - from which the primary present stem is derived
- 1st person singular perfect indicative - from which the perfect stem is derived
- Supine - from which the supine stem is derived
Forms based on the present stem
The present stem is obtained by removing the infinitive ending (-(i)āre, -ēre, -ere, or -īre) from the second principal part and (in the case of the first conjugation) maintaining its hardness/softness.
Many verbs in the second to fourth conjugations (and a few verbs in the first conjugation) have a secondary present stem distinct from the primary present stem. This is obtained by removing -(i)ō from the first principal part and maintaining its hardness/softness.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present active infinitive | -(i)āre | -ēre | -ere | -īre |
| Present active participle | -(i)ąs, -(i)antis, -(i)antių | -ęs, -entis, -entių | -ęs, -entis, -entių¹ | |
| Present passive participle | -(i)andus, -a, -ų | -endus, -a, -ų | -endus, -a, -ų¹ | |
| Obligative active participle | -(i)antūrus, -a, -ų | -entūrus, -a, -ų | -entūrus, -a, -ų¹ | |
Notes:
¹ Uses the secondary present stem (if applicable).
| Person/ number |
Present indicative | Present subjunctive | Imperfect indicative | Imperfect subjunctive | Imperative | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | |
| 1S | -(i)ō¹ | -ę; -(i)ą¹ | -(i)ą¹ | -(i)āvą | -ēvą | -ēvą¹ | -(i)ārę | -ērę | -erę | -īrę | ||||||||||
| 2S | -(i)ās | -ēs | -is | -īs | -ēs; -(i)ās¹ | -(i)ās¹ | -(i)āvās | -evās | -ēvās¹ | -(i)ārēs | -ērēs | -erēs | -īrēs | -(i)ā | -ē | -e | -ī | |||
| 3S | -(i)at | -et | -it | -it | -et; -(i)at¹ | -(i)at¹ | -(i)āvat | -ēvat | -ēvat¹ | -(i)āret | -ēret | -eret | -īret | |||||||
| 1P | -(i)āmus | -ēmus | -imus | -īmus | -ēmus; -(i)āmus¹ | -(i)āmus¹ | -(i)āvāmus | -ēvāmus | -ēvāmus¹ | -(i)ārēmus | -ērēmus | -erēmus | -īrēmus | |||||||
| 2P | -(i)ātis | -ētis | -itis | -ītis | -ētis; -(i)ātis¹ | -(i)ātis¹ | -(i)āvātis | -ēvātis | -ēvātis¹ | -(i)ārētis | -ērētis | -erētis | -īrētis | -(i)āte | -ēte | -ite | -īte | |||
| 3P | -(i)ant | -ent | -(i)unt¹ | -(i)unt¹ | -ent; -(i)ant¹ | -(i)ant¹ | -(i)āvant | -ēvant | -ēvant¹ | -(i)ārent | -ērent | -erent | -īrent | |||||||
Notes:
¹ Uses the secondary present stem (if applicable). First conjugation verbs with an irregular secondary present stem use alternative present subjunctive endings identical to those of the remaining conjugations.
As indicated in the above tables, the secondary present stem is used in the following cases:
- All conjugations:
- 1S present indicative
- Present subjunctive
- Additional for 3rd and 4th conjugations:
- 3P present indicative
- Additional for 4th conjugation only:
- Imperfect tense
- Present active participle
- Present passive participle
- Obligative active participle
Otherwise, the primary present stem is used.
Forms based on the perfect stem
The perfect stem is obtained by removing -ī from the third principle part.
| Form | Formation |
|---|---|
| Perfect active infinitive | -isse |
| Perfect indicative | Pluperfect indicative | Perfect subjunctive | Pluperfect subjunctive | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1S | -ī | -erą | -erį | -issę |
| 2S | -istī | -erās | -erīs | -issēs |
| 3S | -it | -erat | -erit | -isset |
| 1P | -imus | -erāmus | -erīmus | -issēmus |
| 2P | -istis | -erātis | -erītis | -issētis |
| 3P | -ērunt | -erant | -erint | -issent |
Perfect stems ending in monophthong + -v- can optionally be contracted in certain environments. Note that the stress is always maintained as in the uncontracted form.
| Monophthong preceding -v- | Sequence following -v- | Contraction | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ā | ī; stressed i, ē | ai | Can become ā before a consonant cluster. | |
| e; unstressed i, ē | ā or au | o, ō, u, ū | au | |
| ē | ī; stressed i, ē | ei | ||
| e; unstressed i, ē | ē or eu | |||
| o, ō, u, ū | eu | |||
| ī | ē | ē | ||
| e, i, o, u | ī | |||
| ō | iō | |||
| ū | iū | |||
| ō | ī; stressed i, ē | oi | Can become ō before a consonant cluster. | |
| e, o; unstressed i, ē | ō or ou | |||
| u, ū | ou | |||
| u, ū | ī; stressed i, ē | ui | Can become ū before a consonant cluster. | |
| e; unstressed i, ē | ū | |||
| o, u, ū | ū | |||
| ō | ō |
These contractions also occur optionally in other environments.
In regular verbs, the perfect stem can be derived from the present stem in predictable ways:
- 1st conjugation: -āv-
- 2nd conjugation: -uv- (with hard stem-final consonant)
- 3rd conjugation: -uv- (with hard stem-final consonant)
- 4th conjugation: -īv-
The majority of 1st and 4th conjugation verbs are regular, while 2nd and 3rd conjugation verbs (particularly 3rd conjugation) have a higher tendency to have irregular perfect stems.
Irregular perfect stems formations include:
- -ēv-, -ōv- (for some 2nd and 3rd conjugation verbs).
- Adding -s- after the stem-final consonant (which may cause assimilation).
- Replacing -šč- with -v- and lengthening the preceding vowel if short (for 3rd declension verbs with infinitives ending in -ščere and 1S present indicative in -skō).
- Reduplication.
- Vowel lengthening with or without vowel change.
- Dropping nasal infix from present stem.
- No change from present stem.
Forms based on the supine stem
The supine stem is derived from the fourth principle part by removing the ending -ų.
| Form | Formation |
|---|---|
| Supine | -ų (acc.), -ū (dat./abl.) |
| Perfect active participle | -ęs, -entis, -entių |
| Perfect passive participle | -us, -a, -ų |
| Obligative passive participle | -ūrus, -a, -ų |
For regular verbs, the supine stem is formed from the present stem as follows:
- 1st conjugation: -āt-
- 2nd conjugation: -ūt-
- 3rd conjugation: -ūt-
- 4th conjugation: -īt-
Verbs with an irregular perfect stem generally also have an irregular supine stem.
- If the perfect stem ends in a monophthong followed by -v-, the supine stem generally ends in the monophthong (lengthened if short) + -t-.
- Otherwise, the supine stem cannot be predictably derived based on the perfect stem. Possible endings (besides the already mentioned ones) include:
- -t- (possibly with assimilation)
- -s- (possibly with assimilation)
- -it-
Note that some verbs with a regular perfect stem may have an irregular supine stem and vice versa.
Compound tenses
Compound tenses are formed with auxiliary verbs.
| Tense | Formation | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Future | present tense of īre "to go" + supine (acc.) | This can be made into a future-in-past form by instead using the appropriate past tense form of īre. |
| Future perfect | present tense of īre "to go" + perfect active infinitive | |
| Compound perfect | appropriately conjugated form of avēre "to have" + past participle (acc. neuter, or same gender as direct object) | A compound perfect can be formed from any tense. |
| Form | Formation |
|---|---|
| Future active infinitive | īre + supine (acc.) |
| Future perfect active infinitive | īre + perfect active infinitive |
| Future active participle | jęs, -entis + supine (acc.) |
Passive
Obligative
An obligative counterpart can be made from any tense. It is formed from its declarative counterpart by replacing the main verb with the appropriately conjugated form of jessere "to be" followed by the active or passive obligative participle.
The verb jessere "to be"
The verb sų, jessere, fuvī, fūtų "to be" is one of the most important verbs, and one of the most irregular. In fact, it is the only verb whose full conjugation cannot be determined based on its principle parts.
The forms based on the perfect and supine stems are formed regularly. However, the forms based on the present stem are formed irregularly.
| Form | |
|---|---|
| Present active infinitive | jessere |
| Present active participle | jessęs, -entis, -entių |
| Present passive participle | jessendus, -a, -ų¹ |
| Obligative active participle | jessentūrus, -a, -ų |
| Present indicative | Present subjunctive | Imperfect indicative | Imperfect subjunctive | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1S | sų | sį | jerą | jesserę | |
| 2S | jes | sīs | jerās | jesserēs | fī¹ |
| 3S | jest | sit | jerat | jesseret | |
| 1P | sumus | sīmus | jerāmu | jesserēmus | |
| 2P | sutis | sītis | jerātis | jesserētis | fīte¹ |
| 3P | sunt | sint | jerant | jesserent |
Notes:
¹ These are actually the imperative forms of fīre "to become" (principal parts: fiō, fīre, fīvī, fītų); jessere does not have its own imperative.
Other important irregular verbs
Irregular forms are underlined.
Note that class 3 has the most irregular verbs.
| Principal parts | Meaning | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| First conjugation | ||
| dō, dāre, dedī, dātų | to give | |
| stō, stāre, stetī, stātų | to be standing, to stay | |
| Second conjugation | ||
| aviō, avēre, auvī, avūtų | to have | While this verb's stem ends in -v- and can contract, it is rare in forms based on the present and supine stems. The perfect stem cannot contract due to the diphthong. |
| dēvio, dēvēre, deuvī, dēvūtų | to owe, have to | While this verb's stem ends in -v- and can contract, it is rare in forms based on the present and supine stems. The perfect stem cannot contract due to the diphthong. |
| dēliō, dēlēre, dēlēvī, dēlētų | to destroy, erase, delete | |
| possō, potēre, potuvī, potūtų | to be able to | |
| moviō, movēre, mōvī, mōtų | to start (something) | While this verb's stem ends in -v- and can contract, it is rare in forms based on the present stem. |
| sedzō, sedēre, sēdī, sessų | to be seated | |
| Third conjugation | ||
| nāskō, nāščere, nāvī, nātų | to be born | |
| jedō, jedere, jēdī, jēsų | to eat | |
| facō, facere, fēcī, fattų | to do, make | This verb has an abbreviated 1st conjugation primary present stem (infinitive: fāre) and corresponding supine fātų. |
| ahō, ažere, jēzī, attų | to act, behave | |
| skrīvō, skrīvere, skrīssī, skrīttų | to write | This verb has an abbreviated 4th conjugation primary present stem (infinitive: skrīre) and corresponding supine skrītų. |
| jungō, jundžere, jūnšī, jūntų | to join | |
| dīkō, dīcere, dīššī, dīttų | to say | This verb has an abbreviated 4th conjugation primary present stem (infinitive: dīre) and corresponding supine dītų. |
| vadō, vadere, vāsī, vāsų | to go | This verb has an abbreviated 1st conjugation primary present stem (infinitive: vāre). |
| minuvō, minuvere, minūvī, minūtų | to reduce, make smaller | This verb (and other verbs ending in -uvere) are often contracted in present-stem forms in addition to perfect-stem forms. |
| pōnō, pōnere, posuvī, postų | to put | |
| Fourth conjugation | ||
| jō, īre, īvī, ītų | to go | This verb is almost exclusively used as an auxiliary. As a main verb, it is considered archaic. |
| audzō, audīre, audīvī, audītų | to hear | |
Lexical aspect
While aspect is primarily expressed through verb conjugation (like Romance languages and unlike Balto-Slavic languages), there is a tendency towards certain verbs having inherent aspect. These verbs generally also have causative counterparts.
"Imperfective" and "perfective" can alternatively be referred to as "stative" and "inchoative" respectively.
Some examples of imperfective-perfective-causative counterparts are given below. Note that the counterparts are not necessarily fully synonymous besides aspect, and they may have alternative meanings that are not shared.
| Imperfective | Perfective | Causative | Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Principal parts | Meaning | Principal parts | Meaning | Principal parts | Meaning | |
| sų, jessere, fuvī, fūtų | to be | fiō, fīre, fīvī, fītų | to become | facō, facere, fēcī, fattų | to make | |
| stō, stāre, stetī, stātų | to be standing | surhō, suržere, sūršī, sūrtų | to stand up, to stop (intr.), to go into a standing position | sistō, sistere, sistuvī, sistūtų | to make stand, to stop (tr.), to put into a standing position | |
| sedzō, sedēre, sēdī, sessų | to be sitting | sīdō, sīdere, sēdī, sessų | to sit down, to sit up, to go into a sitting position | lokō, lokāre, lokāvī, lokātų | to set, to put down | |
| jačo, jačēre, jakuvī, jakūtų | to be lying | dēkumbō, dēkumbere, dēkūvī, dēkūtų | to lie down | deicō, deicere, dēcī, dēttų | to lay down | |
| scō, scīre, scīvī, scītų | to know | diskō, diščere, didcī, distų | to learn | dočō, dočēre, dokuvī, dottų | to teach | |
| dormiō, dormīre, dormīvī, dormītų | to be asleep | dormīskō, dormīščere, dormīvī, dormītų | to fall asleep | — | — | Many verbs have inchoatives formed with the suffix -skō, -sčere. Such inchoative verbs often share their third and fourth principal parts with the verb they are derived from. |
Note that in perfect/supine tenses and the imperative, imperfective verbs can become almost synonymous with their perfective counterparts, and in some cases they are homophonous - e.g. stetī ≈ sūršī "I stood". However, in certain contexts, their meanings are distinct - e.g. Sūršī jet stetī duvās ōrās. "I stood up and remained standing for two hours."
In imperfect tenses (i.e. the present indicative and the imperfect indicative and subjunctive), perfective verbs tend to become inchoative in meaning - e.g. suržēvą "I was standing up/stopping, I used to stand up/stop" vs. stāvą "I was standing, I used to stand".
If needed, for verbs without lexical aspect, imperfective can be explicitly marked using jessere + present participle, while perfective can be marked with fīre + present participle (if not already marked via compound perfect or other means).
Facere + infinitive is used to form causatives.
Syntax
Constituent order
Noun phrase
Verb phrase
Sentence phrase
Dependent clauses
Example Texts
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 1)
Tōtī vominēs nāskunt līverī jet jekālēs in dinnitāte jet jūrivīs. Sunt dōtātī dē rācōne jet kǫscencæ, jet dēvent ažere inter sē in frāternitātis spīritī.
[ˈtoːtʲiː ˈʋɔmʲɪnʲæːs ˈnäːskʊnt ˈlʲiːvʲɛrʲiː jɛt jɛˈkaːlʲæːs jɪn dʲɪnʲːɪˈtaːtʲe̞ jɛt ˈjuːrʲɪvʲiːs ‖ sʊnt doːˈtaːtʲiː dʲeː raːˈtsoːnʲɛ jɛt koːˈstsʲɛnʲtseː | jɛt ˈdʲɛːvʲe̞nt ˈɐʑe̞rʲe̞ ˈjɪnʲtʲɛr sʲeː jɪn fraːtʲɛrʲnʲɪˈtaːtʲɪs ˈsʲpʲiːrʲɪtʲiː]