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Rumonian | |
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nimba rumoniha | |
Pronunciation | [[ˈnimba ruˈmɔnixa]] |
Created by | Lili21 |
Date | Jan 2019 |
Setting | TBD |
Ethnicity | TBD |
Native speakers | TBD (TBD) |
Indo-European
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Official status | |
Official language in | TBD |
Rumonian (natively rumonih [ruˈmɔnix] or nimba rumoniha [ˈnimba ruˈmɔnixa]) is a Romance language 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 Atlantic, 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 Rumonian. 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. Lexically, I chose to stick to Latin and Ancient Greek roots (the latter in more abstract and formal vocabulary, and in a somewhat higher number than in other Romance languages), generally avoiding other foreign words unless attested in some form of Latin or (non-Modern) Greek, or a small number of borrowings from other Romance languages.
Development
Vocalic changes
The Rumonian 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:
Latin | Early Rumonian | Modern Rumonian | 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] or [wa]) | *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 the North, 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 the North and West, it affected vowels after velars too (see Western cuardi, Northern cuari for Standard/Eastern cordi "heart", or both Northern and Western 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 Rumonian, 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[1].
Note that original Latin long a only merged with o later, and never underwent vowel breaking.
Metaphony
Metaphony occurs in a very limited environment, that is, as the result of original non-syllabic /i/ in the [pja bja mja] sequences. The /i/ disappears, raising a preceding [a ɛ ɔ] to [ɛ i u] respectively. It is most commonly encountered in subjunctive verb forms:
- CAMBIAM → *cʲambjã > cemba "I change (subj.)"
- RAPIAM → *rapjã > repa "I steal (subj.)"
- DORMIAM → *dormjã > durma "I sleep (subj.)"
Phonology
TBA
In standard Rumonian, voiced stops are allophonically geminated after a stressed vowel, e.g. in pubric "public" /ˈpubrik/ [ˈpubːrik] or abidihu "I decline" /ˈabidiχu/ [ˈabːidiχu].
Orthography
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. Some Western 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 Rumonian.
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[2]. 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]
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) |
-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[3] | productive | 2nd and 4th declension (m. nouns) | vent → ventus (wind(s)) (m) vioṭih → vioṭihus (travel(s)) (f) |
-a | neuter | the last consonant may be modified | 2nd declension (n. nouns), a few 3rd declension ones | nimal → nimalya (animal(s)) (n) | |
-o | -us | masculine | movable -n in the singular | 2nd declension for Greek nouns (m./n. nouns) | finomino → finominus (phaenomenon, -a) (m) |
-u | -a | neuter | 4th declension (n. nouns) | cornu → corna (horn(s)) (n) |
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.: nind puir, ninda pelya, nind cordi = "handsome boy", "beautiful girl", "kind heart"
- Plural ex.: nindus puirus, nindos pelyos, ninda corda = "handsome boys", "beautiful girls", "kind hearts"
Second declension
- Singular ex.: amix viroci, amixa virocha, joixi viroci = "real friend", "real friend", "real pleasure"
- Plural ex.: amicus virocis, amixos virocis, joixa virocha = "real friends", "real friends", "real pleasures"
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.
Rumonian, 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 hoi ê ceruly. "This car that I have is blue." (cf. Italian "Questa macchina che io ho è blu")
- Lûnc vixilc pu tu hais ê ceruly. "That (lit. this) car that you have is blue." (cf. It. "Quella/codesta macchina che tu hai è blu")
- Ludic vixilc pu Lucia hal ê ceruly. "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 iromu sit-uvi-fuaril tu viaris. "We will go anywhere you want."
Numerals
- 1 un (m/n), una (f)
- 2 du (m/n), dos (f)
- 3 tris (m/f), tria (n)
- 4 patol
- 5 pimpi
- 6 sex
- 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 pardinjentus (m), pardinjentos (f), pardinjenta (n)
- 500 pinjentus (m), pinjentos (f), pinjenta (n)
- 600 sixentus (m), sixentos (f), sixenta (n)
- 700 seutinjentus (m), seutinjentos (f), seutinjenta (n)
- 800 oitinjentus (m), oitinjentos (f), oitinjenta (n)
- 900 nunjentus (m), nunjentos (f), nunjenta (n)
- 1000 mily
- x000 ~(n) milya (e.g. 2000 du milya, 3000 tria milya)
Pronouns
The Rumonian 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. ilyu viḍil "he sees", ilyu 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.
- Heri viḍi-ru "I saw him yesterday"
- Heri viḍi-ra "I saw her yesterday"
- Heri viḍis-lu "You saw him yesterday"
- Cros daṭur-um iaris dil cuḍixi? "Will you give me the book tomorrow?" (note that Rumonian is secundative!)
- Cros daṭur-li iaris? "Will you give that tomorrow?"
- Du-ru dil cuḍixi "I give him the book"
- Lu vos agroxa-mi "I like the vase"
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 hal pimpi virocha vosa sininsa "my aunt has five real Chinese vases" → Amiṭa ma an hal pimpi "my aunt has five of them"
- – Hais una tauleta? "do you have a tablet" – Oc, an hoi (una) "yes, I have (one)"
- Amix meu exit e insura "my friend goes out of the apartment" → Amix meu an exit "my friend goes out of it"
- Sun iṭur nôs Aṭinos "I will go to Athens" → Iv sun iṭur "I will go there"
- Iaris nôs Sirohusos? "Are you in Syracuse?" → Oc, iv sun "Yes, I am there"
Prepositions
(TBA)
- di — of; also introduces themes of ditransitive verbs and the arguments of certain verbs. It also translates "about, concerning of" (sur is a synonym here).
- 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 un cuḍixi dâ Bialya Puniha. "It is a book about the Punic Wars."
- Los ninyos nila chalyi apelyant 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."
- aḍ – expresses motion to or state in certain places. Typically, some nouns require aḍ, usually public services, islands[4], or open spaces, plus singular names of cities and plural countries, while others require in. It also introduces gerunds.
- Sun 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 sun 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 — 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.
- Sun 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 sun âlos Sinos. "Next year I'll go to China."
- e — 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:
- Exi êxa staxuni. "I go out of the station."
- Cros riverti e Londiny. "I'm coming back from London tomorrow."
- Lûnc fuxili 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, chariḍoria. La mirolca êxu elaso. "Fridges, freezers, heating. Wonders of progress."
- cu — expresses an instrument or a comitative argument.
- July secal arbolis câ sihuri. "Julius cuts trees with the axe."
- Preferu scriviri cuna pena. "I prefer to write with a pen."
- Trubu cu Tecra. "I sing with Thecla."
- tras — 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 mais 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 hoi aḍeut doṭ tras Mateu. "The books have been given to me by Matthew."
- 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 chalyi (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).
- sur — on, over, about (di is a synonym for the latter):
- Iv ê nivi sursa teita dûs eḍifixus. "There is snow on the roofs of buildings."
- Nuiros volant sursu chastr. "Clouds fly/float over the city."
- Ê un cuḍixi sursa Bialya Puniha. "It is a book about the Punic Wars."
- pro – 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 iarunt pro tivi. "These flowers are for you."
- Los ninyos nila chalyi apelyant 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 un litr di cirivixa. "This is a glass [that can contain] one litre of beer."
- Faitur-u sun nunc, pro cros haviri mais 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."
- groxa — thanks to, because of + positive experience (< GRĀTIĀ, with pre-Rumonian shortening of the final vowel)
- Dinoji iv iarunt miny muartis nilu cunolb groxa lus eurimenis nila iatria. "Today there are less [cases of] death during infancy, thanks to the discoveries in medical science."
- Groxa lu bon etiri heri 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."
Table of contractions
→ Preposition ↓ Article |
di | aḍ | in | e | cu | tras | sur | pro |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
il | dil | âl | nil | exil | cul | trâl | sûl | prôl |
lu | dû | âlu | nilu | êxu | cû | trâu | sursu | prû |
la | dâ | â | nila | êxa | câ | trâ | sursa | prâ |
lus | dûs | âlus | nûs | êxus | cu lus (arch.) cûllus |
trâus | sur lus | prûs |
los | dôs | âlos | nôs | êxos | cu los (arch.) cûllos |
trôs | sur los | prôs |
un | dun | ân | nun | exun | cun | tras un | sur un | pro un |
una | duna | âna | nuna | exuna | cuna | tras una | sur una | pro una |
Verbs
Verbs generally have six moods: three finite (indicative, subjunctive, imperative) and three non-finite ones (infinitive, participle, gerundive). Unlike other Romance languages, Rumonian 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 Rumonian 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 apilyori "to call, to be called" ← APPELLĀRE, whose 1sg present indicative form is apialyu ← APPELLŌ (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).
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 | amann | amori |
Second conjugation
The second conjugation includes three slightly different patterns, as sound changes coalesced the latter three conjugations of Latin mostly into similar forms. The infinitive for all second conjugation verbs ends in -iri, stressed for those that continue the 2nd and 4th Latin conjugations (← -ĒRE, -IRE) and unstressed for the others, continuing the 3rd conjugation of Latin (← -ERE).
- The first pattern continues the second conjugation, and has -e- as the thematic vowel in the participles and -i- in the 1SG and 3PL present indicative inflections;
- The second pattern continues the third conjugation, and also has -e- as thematic vowel for the participles, but -u- in the 1SG and 3PL present indicative inflections;
- The third pattern, continuing the fourth conjugation, always has -i- as thematic vowel in both participles and 1SG/3PL present indicative.
Few second conjugation verbs are completely regular, and some of them have a fifth principal part, namely the subjunctive present, whose stem has often being modified by diachronically regular palatalization of the last consonant in many verbs (as in sponxa (← SPONDEAM) for the verb spondiri) or sporadic metaphony in a few others (as in cemba (← CAMBIAM) for the verb chambiri). Most second conjugation verbs, furthermore, 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
The regular past participle for all second conjugation verbs is -iṭ (← -ITUM, -ĪTUM), but many verbs have irregular forms. The future participle for all verbs is formed by adding -ur to the past participle.
Person | Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Imperfect | Perfect | Pluperfect | Present | Imperfect | Future | ||
1SG | spondi | spondiva | spofondi | spofondiara | sponxa | spofondissi | spofondiaru | — |
2SG | spondis | spondivos | spofondisti | spofondiaros | sponxos | spofondissis | spofondiaris | spondi |
3SG | spondil | spondival | spofondil | spofondiaral | sponxal | spofondissil | spofondiaril | sponxal |
1PL | spondimu | spondivomu | spofondimu | spofonderomu | sponxomu | spofondissimu | spofonderimu | sponxomu |
2PL | spondiṭi | spondivoṭi | spofondisti | spofonderoṭi | sponxoṭi | spofondissiṭi | spofonderiṭi | spondiṭi |
3PL | spondint | spondivant | spofondirunt | spofondiarant | sponxant | spofondissint | spofondiarint | sponxant |
Pres. participle | Past participle | Future participle | Gerundive | Infinitive | ||||
spondenti | spuns | spunsur | spondenn | spondiri |
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 | tangimu | 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 | tangenn | tangiri |
Person | Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Imperfect | Perfect | Pluperfect | Present | Imperfect | Future | ||
1SG | chambi | chambiva | chansi | chanxara | cemba | chansissi | chanxaru | — |
2SG | chambis | chambivos | chansisti | chanxaros | cembos | chansissis | chanxaris | chambi |
3SG | chambil | chambival | chansil | chanxaral | cembal | chansissil | chanxaril | cembal |
1PL | chambimu | chambivomu | chansimu | chanseromu | cembomu | chansissimu | chanserimu | cembomu |
2PL | chambiṭi | chambivoṭi | chansisti | chanseroṭi | cemboṭi | chansissiṭi | chanseriṭi | chambiṭi |
3PL | chambint | chambivant | chansirunt | chanxarant | cembant | chansissint | chanxarint | cembant |
Pres. participle | Past participle | Future participle | Gerundive | Infinitive | ||||
chambinti | chambiṭ | chambiṭur | chambinn | chambiri |
The verb fairi (← FACERE), faxu, fixi, fait "to do, make" is a regular pattern 2 second 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.
To be (siḍiri), to have (haviri)
The verbs "to be" (siḍiri ← ASSIDĒRE, most of the conjugation from SUM) and "to have" (haviri ← HABĒRE) are irregular. The former is deeply suppletive (inheriting many irregularities from Latin); the latter is functionally a pattern 1 second conjugation verb with widespread irregularities due to contraction and analogy.
Person | Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Imperfect | Perfect | Pluperfect | Present | Imperfect | Future | ||
1SG | sun | iara | fui | fiara | sin | fussi | fiaru | — |
2SG | iaris | iaros | fusti | fiaros | sis | fussis | fiaris | es |
3SG | ê | iaral | fuch | fiaral | sil | fussil | fiaril | sil |
1PL | iarin | iromu | fuimu | firomu | simu | fussimu | firimu | simu |
2PL | iariṭ | iroṭi | fusti | firoṭi | siṭi | fussiṭi | firiṭi | esti |
3PL | iarunt | iarant | ferunt | fiarant | sint | fussint | fiarint | sint |
Pres. participle | Past participle | Future participle | Gerundive | Infinitive | ||||
siḍenti | sis | sissur | siḍenn | siḍiri |
Person | Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Imperfect | Perfect | Pluperfect | Present | Imperfect | Future | ||
1SG | hoi | 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 | havenn | haviri |
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 Rumonian are of the second pattern (unstressed) -iri verbs.
There are less deponent verbs than in Latin, but most of them are quite commonly used:
- aḍipisciri "to get, obtain" (also auxiliary) ~ aḍipisci, aḍeut
- fruiri "to enjoy" ~ frui, fruit
- groltiri "to thank" ~ grolti, groṭ (dialectally non-deponent groltori/groṭurori, groltu/groṭuru, groltovi/groṭurovi, groṭuroṭ)
- isperiri "to experience" ~ isperi, ispert
- lofiri "to speak" ~ lofi, lofuṭ
- meminiri "to remember" ~ memini, mimint
- obrivisciri "to forget" ~ obrivisci, obriṭ
- opiniri "to think, judge" ~ opini, opinoṭ (dialectally non-deponent opinori, opinu, opinovi, opinoṭ)
- oriri "to appear" ~ ori, ort
Periphrastic forms
Rumonian verbs, in addition to the synthetic forms listed above, conjugate using an array of periphrastic forms, here with trubori "to sing"[5] as an example verb:
- Present continuous: present participle + present of siḍiri
- e.g. trubanti sun "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 hoi "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 sun "I will sing"
- Future perfect: future active participle + iṭur (or fuṭur) + present of siḍiri
- e.g. truboṭur iṭur/fuṭur sun "I will have sung"
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: trubann ê "it will be sung"
- Future perfect: trubann iṭur/fuṭur ê "it will have been sung"
Some verbs like apilyori "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. apelyant-u di amuri "it is called 'love' ~ they call it 'love'".
Uniquely among Romance languages, Rumonian 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 Rumonian 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: aḍipisci doṭ "it is given [to me]"
- Imperfect: aḍipisciva doṭ "it was given [to me]"
- Past: hoi aḍeut doṭ "it has been/was given [to me]"
- Pluperfect: hiva aḍeut doṭ "it was been given [to me]"
- Future: aḍeutur sun doṭ "it will be given [to me]"
- Future perfect: aḍeutur iṭur/fuṭur sun 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 hoi aḍeut apisiṭ tras mama ma. "The bread has been bought for me by mom."
Texts
The North Wind and the Sun (il Vent Seutentrunori i il Sul)
- Un jurn, il vent seutentrunori i il sul iaran discuxentis pro pori e ambus fussil lu prus forti, pandu supiriunxil un vioṭihuri in toa chariḍa.
- Concordoṭus fuarunt, pu lu prim, pu cunsihuṭ fussil aḍ fairi il vioṭihuri apu tolyissil la toa, cunsiḍiroṭ fiaril prus forti dil oltr.
- Dindi il vent seutentrunori suflesquil, forti pundo poṭiara, seḍ cummais sufloval mais il vioṭihuri nila toa istringivat-us; i nil fini il vent seutentrunori cessovil cu lu isfuarx. Dindi il sul chandesquil chariḍomenti, i suviṭu il vioṭihuri susturil la toa.
- Sic il vent seutentrunori deubil concordori, pu il sul lu prus forti e ambus iaral.
IPA:
- [un‿ˈdʑurn iɬ‿ˈvɛn sɛu̯tɛntruˈnɔri i‿ɬ ˈsuɬ ˈjaran discuˈçentis prɔ‿ˈpɔri e ˈambus ˈfusiɬ lu prus ˈfɔrti ˈpandu supiˈrjunçiɬ uɱ‿vjɔθiˈχuri in‿ˈtɔ.a ˈtɕariða]
- [kɔŋkɔrˈdɔθus ˈfwarun pu lu ˈprim pu kunsiˈχuθ ˈfusiɬ af‿fai̯ri‿ɬ vjɔθiˈχuri apu tɔˈjisiɬ la‿ˈtɔ.a kunsiðiˈrɔθ ˈfjariɬ prus ˈfɔrti diɬ‿ˈɔɬtɔr]
- [ˈdindi iɬ‿ˈvɛn sɛu̯tɛntruˈnɔri suˈflɛskiɬ ˈfɔrti pundɔ pɔˈθjara seð kuˈmai̯s suˈflɔvaɬ mai̯s iɬ‿vjɔθiˈχuri nila‿ˈtɔ.a istrinˈdʑivatus i niɬ ˈfini iɬ‿ˈvɛn sɛu̯tɛntruˈnɔri tɕɛˈsɔviɬ cu lu iˈsfwarç . ˈdindi iɬ‿ˈsuɬ tɕanˈdɛskiɬ tɕariðɔˈmɛnti i ˈsuviθu‿ɬ vjɔθiˈχuri susˈturiɬ la‿ˈtɔ.a]
- [ˈsik iɬ‿ˈvɛn sɛu̯tɛntruˈnɔri ˈdɛu̯biɬ kɔŋkɔrˈdɔri pu‿ɬ ˈsuɬ lu prus ˈfɔrti e ˈambus ˈjaraɬ]
Notes
- ^ See Matthew 16, 18: I eu dihu-t: Tu iaris Petrus, i surs lânc piarta eḍifihoṭur sun ma Ircexa.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Also including feminine words with the suffix -oṭih (←ĀTICUM)
- ^ But note in Sardinya and in Sixilya.
- ^ Occitan borrowing, replaced inherited caniri.