Atlantic

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Atlantic
otrantih; nimba otrantiha
Pronunciation[[ɔˈtrantiχ]
[ˈnimba ɔˈtrantiχa]]
Created byLili21
DateGen 2019
SettingAlt-Earth
EthnicityAtlantics (otrantihus)
Native speakers66,000,000 (2017)
Indo-European
  • Italic
    • Romance
      • Atlantic
Official status
Official language in
Atlantiana
Map of the Republic of Atlantiana.
Map of the Republic of Atlantiana.

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 Atlantiana (Otrantiana [ɔtranˈtjana]), 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. The two main varieties are called Mauritanian (moiriṭonyinsi [mwariθɔˈɲinsi]), the one the standard is based on, and Numidian (numiginsi [numiˈdʑinsi]); some sources distinguish two further varieties, Teneréïc (tenerinsi [tɛnɛˈrinsi]) and Senegal Riparian (Niu-flumininsi [ˈniu̯ flumiˈninsi]); these two varieties are greatly influenced by the non-Romance languages they coexist with. In Atlantiana, it is the native language of about 70% of the population, the nationwide de facto lingua franca, and one of the six official languages, sharing official status with the native languages of the remaining 30% of the population: the Berber languages in most of the country and Fula, Wolof, Soninke, and Bambara in the south.

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.

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 BARCAMbarca
*paraulāre → parlori
Sicilian barca, varca; Italian barca; French barque
Sic. parrari; It. parlare; Fr. parler
E, AE, OE e (atonic: i) VEDĒREviḍiri
CENTRUMcentr
Sic. vidiri; It. vedere; Fr. voir
Sic. centru; It. centro; Fr. centre
Ē, Ī, I *i, *i, *ɪ i VEDĒREviḍiri
DŌRMĪREdurmiri
SIMPLICEMsimprici
Sic. vidiri; It. vedere; Fr. voir
Sic. durmiri; It. dormire; Fr. dormir
Sic. simprici; It. semplice; Fr. simple
O o SOMNUMson Sic. sonnu; It. sonno; Fr. somme
Ō, Ū, U *u, *u, *ʊ u AMŌREMamuri
NUCEMnuxi
PŪNCTUMpunyt
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 ALTUMolt (cf. Lombard olt, French haut, Italian alto).
  • The same result happened for ul sequences, which were lowered, see FULMENfolmin (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, *moritchar, muaril (cf. Fr. ciel, meurt; Lom. ciel, mœur; It. cielo, muore; Spanish cielo, muere, Portuguese céu, (morre))
    Lat. TERRAM, PORTAMtiara, 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[3].

Note that original Latin long a only merged with o later, and never underwent vowel breaking.

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
j, g
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[4] 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/.
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".

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

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, uch, j, x
  • Velar sound + i, equ, 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 two words with word-final ss are the negative particle pass and 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[5], 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.

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. afaafos (water(s)) (f)
poïṭapoïṭos (poet(s)) (m)
-ta neuter Greek learned borrowings climaclimata (climate(s)) (n)
-i -is masculine, feminine 3rd declension (m./f. nouns) lavurilavuris (work(s)) (m)
partipartis (part(s)) (f)
-a neuter 3rd declension (n. nouns) with reanalyzed stems cordicorda (heart(s)) (n)
-inya neuter movable -n in the singular 3rd declension (n. nouns) numinuminya (name(s)) (n)
-os feminine 1st declension for Greek nouns ninfininfos (nymph(s)) (f)
-∅ -us masculine productive 2nd and 4th declension (m. nouns) ventventus (wind(s)) (m)
-a neuter the last consonant may be modified 2nd declension (n. nouns), a few 3rd declension ones nimalnimalya (animal(s)) (n)
-ora neuter 3rd declension neuters liṭliṭora (coast(s)) (n)
-ira neuter 3rd declension neuters laṭlaṭira (side(s)) (n)[6]
-o -us masculine
neuter in learned borrowings
movable -n in the singular 2nd declension for Greek nouns (m./n. nouns) finominofinominus (phaenomenon, -a) (m)
-u -a neuter 4th declension (n. nouns) cornucorna (horn(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:

  • CirCiru!
  • AlbertAlbertu!
  • GinnarGinnaru!
  • PiatrPiatru!
  • XenofonXenofon! (standard), Xenofonu! (colloquial)
  • DioclesDiocles! (standard), Dioclesu! (colloquial)
  • ArquimediArquimedi! (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 funt 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. charilbiciribiarim "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.

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 suquist quir suquir apist apely
Neuter singular ludic
Feminine singular
Neuter plural
lânc lâric cista chalya cista cedda quista saquista quira saquira apista apelya
Masculine plural lûsus lûsic cistus chalyus cistus ceddus quistus susquistus quirus susquirus apistus apelyus
Feminine plural lôsos lôsic cistos chalyos cistos ceddos quistos sosquistos quiros sosquiros 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")
Correlatives
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 fimu 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:

  1. When preceding any clitic, third person singular -l becomes -t (e.g. ilu viḍil "he sees", ilu viḍit-un "he sees us").
  2. 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 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 (< ) — 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 vos. "my brother gives me the vase"
    Oc, quior ê pu memini di Lucia! "yes, of course I remember Lucy!"
    Ê nu cuḍixi 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[7], 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 rivertu 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, iscarfomenta. La mirolca êxu elaso. "Fridges, freezers, heating. Wonders of progress."
  • cu (< CUM) — expresses an instrument or a comitative argument.
    July secal arbolis 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 hoi 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."
    Non inviniva pass 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 funt 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 funt 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 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."
  • 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 funt adrint monxuni ma. "The post office is near my house."
    Fimu adrintâ Risureuxuni. "We are close to Easter. / Easter is near."
    Midran siṭ ê adrintil nimiṭi hilviṭih. "Milan is close to the border with Switzerland."
  • circ (< CIRCUM), meaning "around":
    Lu helicoptero 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 funt siny gliqui. "These sweets are sugar-free (lit. "without sugar").
    No possun pass 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 funt 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 circ cis uls
il dil âl nil exil cul trâl incopil sut il prôl adrintil circûl cis il ursil
lu âlu nilu êxu trâu incopu suttu prû adrintû circû cîsu ursu
la â nila êxa trâ incopa sutta prâ adrintâ circâ cîsa ursa
lus dûs âlus nûs êxus cu lus
(arch.) cûllus
trâus incopus suttus prûs adrintûs circ lus cîsus ursus
los dôs âlos nôs êxos cu los
(arch.) cûllos
trôs incopos suttos prôs adrintôs circ los cîsos ursos
nu dun ân nun exun cun tras un incop un sut un pro un adrint un circ un cis un uls un
una duna âna nuna exuna cuna tras una incop una sut una pro una adrint una 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 iaruERRŌ (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 tl 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).

First conjugation, simple tenses: amori, amu, amovi, amoṭ "to love"
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:

  1. Latin perfects in -ĒVĪ, -VĪ, -ĪVĪ: -ei, -isti, -eil, -imu, -isti, -irunt
  2. 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.

Second conjugation (regular, -i past), simple tenses: diviri, divi, deubi, diviṭ "to have to"
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
Second conjugation (regular, -ei past), simple tenses: durmiri, durmiu, durmei, durmiṭ "to sleep"
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.

Third conjugation (-i past), simple tenses: tangiri, tangu, tiṭigi, toit "to touch"
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
Third conjugation (-ei past), simple tenses: apeṭiri, apeṭu, apeṭei, apiṭiṭ "to attack, rush towards"
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" (siḍiriASSIDĒRE, most of the conjugation from SUM, parts from FĪŌ, participles also from ASSIDEŌ) and "to have" (haviriHABĒRE) 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.

"To be", simple tenses: siḍiri, sungu, fui, sis
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 fimu iromu fuimu firomu simu
fiomu
fussimu firimu fiomu
2PL fiṭi iroṭi fusti firoṭi siṭi
fioṭi
fussiṭi firiṭi esti
3PL funt 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!"
"To have", simple tenses: haviri, hoi, hoibi, haiṭ
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 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 = hoi du infantis "I have two children".

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:

"To give", simple tenses: dori, dungu, deḍi, doṭ
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:

"To stand", simple tenses: sistiri, sistu, steṭi, staṭ ~ stori, stungu, 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:

"To bring", simple tenses: fiariri, fiaru, turi, loṭ
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.

"To remember", simple tenses: meminiri, memini, ~, mimint
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 fimu mimintus iromu miminentis simu mimintus fussimu miminturus simu
miminturus firimu
2PL meminiṭi miminivoṭi mimintus fiṭi mimintus iroṭi miminentis siṭi mimintus fussiṭi miminturus siṭi
miminturus firiṭi
3PL meminirunt miminivant mimintus funt 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:

"To speak, say, tell", simple tenses: oiri, fual(, lofiva), ai(, fial), lohuṭ
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:

"To be able to", simple tenses: possiri, possun, —, potiṭ
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 fimu potiṭus iromu poṭentis simu potiṭus fussimu potiṭurus simu
potiṭus firimu
2PL poṭesti poṭiroṭi potiṭus fiṭi potiṭus iroṭi poṭentis siṭi potiṭus fussiṭi potiṭurus siṭi
potiṭus firiṭi
3PL possunt poṭiarant potiṭus funt 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:

"To want", simple tenses: vialyiri, vuaru, vuli, voriṭ
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).

"To go", simple tenses: voiri, voḍu, (iva,) vosi, (ira,) iṭ(, ja)
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"[8] 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 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 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:

  • hoi aḍ trubori = truboṭur sungu
  • hoi 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: hoi 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 hoi aḍeut apisiṭ tras mama ma. "The bread has been bought for me by mom."

Epistemic modality is expressed through the use of four invariable verbal forms, grammaticalized and heavily-worn Latin passives. In order of probability, they are cisvul (← CĒNSĒBATUR), ciul (← CĒNSĒTUR), viril (← VIDĒRĒTUR) and viol (← VIDEĀTUR):

  • Lucia trubanti cisvul. "Lucy might be singing."
  • Troion comiḍenti ciul. "Trajan may be eating."
  • Deura durminti viril. "Deborah should be sleeping/probably sleeps."
  • Cornily scinti viol. "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 Otrantiana eleuterisoṭa fussil.
[lus partiɲˈçɵnus biˈjwarun ut‿ɔtranˈtjana ɛlɛu̯tɛriˈzɔθa ˈfusiɬ]
DEF.MASC.PL. partisan-PL. fight-IND.PAST.3PL. in_order_to. Atlantiana.SG. free-PART.PAST.FEMM.SG. be.SUBJ.PAST.3SG.
Partisans fought in order to free Atlantiana.
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.
Heri comisis orisa?
[ˈçeri 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 non siḍiri pass.
[ˈtrista ˈsuŋɡu ˌila kunsiˈχuθa nɔn‿siˈðiri‿ˌpas]
sad-FEM.SG be.IND.PRES.1SG. 3SG.FEM.SUBJ. managed-FEM.SG. NEG=. 2SG.OBJ. 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 (feriri "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 (CIVITĀTEMciviṭoṭi 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) PRŌNŪNTIĀTUMpronunxoṭ "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" from French; trubori "to sing" from Occitan; galaria "gallery" from Italian). 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[9] [be] with you), being a calque of Arabic as-salāmu ʿalaykum[10].

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", gliqui "sugar", heurimen "discovery", tir "cheese"). 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; 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.

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 Atlantiana 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 non impirilcovant-us pass 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 non parlovant pass 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 iara 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 aprufimpoval 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 non tinival pass 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 funt di raxuni i cunxenxa i divint feriri-s cul oltr seu nun spiriṭ di froltiriṭoṭi.

Notes

  1. ^ Inside Atlantiana, "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 Atlantiana 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".
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ See Matthew 16, 18: I eu dihu-t: Tu iaris Petrus, i incopa lânc piarta eḍifihoṭur sungu ma Ircexa.
  4. ^ Excluding, as often happens, proper names like Bonnunx (archaic term for "Gospel") /bɔŋˈnunuç/), or etymological spellings of function words such as nyentminy "nevertheless" /ɲɛŋˈniɲ/).
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ And iṭiriṭinira "adventure(s)"
  7. ^ But note in Sardinya and in Sixilya.
  8. ^ Occitan borrowing, replaced inherited caniri.
  9. ^ The most common word for "peace" today is the Greek reborrowing ireni, but in this set phrase paix is still the only form used.
  10. ^ The response, however, is i tant cu tivi/cu vuis/câ sinyuria (and with you too), which is not a calque.