Chelsian

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

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

Introduction

Etymology

From Latin celsus.

Features

Phonological

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

Grammatical

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

Phonology

Orthography

Vowels

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

Diphthongs

Grapheme	Sound (IPA)	Remarks
ai	[äɪ̯]
au	[ɐʊ̯]
eu	[e̞ʊ̯]

Consonants

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

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

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

Prosody

Stress

Stress generally follows Classical Latin rules.

Morphology

Nouns

First declension

1st declension endings

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

Second declension

2nd declension endings

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

Third declension

3rd declension endings

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

Fourth declension

4th declension endings

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

Fifth declension

4th declension endings

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

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

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

Personal pronouns

Person	Number	Gender	Nominative	Accusative	Genitive	Dative	Locative
1	sg.	all	jehō	mē	mejus, -a, -ų	mivī
	pl.	all	nōs		nostrus, -a, -ų	nōvīs
2	sg.	all	tū	tē	tuvus, -a, -ų	tivī
	pl.	all	vōs		vostrus, -a, -ų	vōvīs
3	sg.	m.	isse	issų	issījus, -a, -ų	issui	issī
		f.	issa	issą	issējus, -a, -ų	issei	issæ
		n.	issut		issījus, -a, -ų	issui	issī
	pl.	m.	issī	issōs	issōrus, -a, -ų	issīs
		f.	issæ	issās	issārus, -a, -ų	issāvīs
		n.	issa		issōrus, -a, -ų	issīs
Reflexive		all	–	sē	suvus, -a, -ų	sivī

Verbs

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

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

Principal parts

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

The principle parts are:

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

Forms based on the present stem

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

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

Non-finite forms based on the present stem

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

Notes:

¹ Uses the secondary present stem (if applicable).

Finite tenses based on the present stem

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

Notes:

¹ Uses the secondary present stem (if applicable).

Forms based on the perfect stem

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

Non-finite forms based on the perfect stem

Form	Formation
Perfect active infinitive	-isse

Finite forms based on the perfect stem

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

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

Optional contractions of perfect-stem forms

Monophthong preceding -v-	Sequence following -v-	Contraction
ā	ī	ai
ē		ei
ī		ī
ō		oi
u, ū		ui
ā	it	aut
ē		eut
ā	i or e (except -it)	ā
ē		ē
ī	i or e	ī
ō		ō
u, ū		ū

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

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

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

Irregular perfect stems formations include:

• -ēvi- (for 2nd conjugation verbs).
• Adding -s- after the stem-final consonant (which may cause assimilation).
• Reduplication.
• Vowel lengthening with or without vowel change.
• Dropping nasal infix from present stem.
• No change from present stem.

Forms based on the supine stem

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

Non-finite forms based on the supine stem

Form	Formation
Supine	-ų
Present passive participle	-us, -a, -ų
Obligative active participle	-ūrus, -a, -ų

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

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

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

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

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

Compound tenses

Compound tenses are formed with auxiliary verbs.

Compound tenses

Tense	Formation	Remarks
Future	present tense of īre "to go" + present active infinitive	This can be made into a future-in-past form by instead using the appropriate past tense form of īre.
Future perfect	present tense of īre "to go" + perfect active infinitive

Compound non-finite forms

Form	Formation
Future active infinitive	īre + present active infinitive
Future perfect active infinitive	īre + perfect active infinitive
Future active participle	jęs, -entis + present active infinitive

Passive

The passive of any active verb form (finite or non-finite) is formed by replacing that verb form with the equivalent form of the verb jessere "to be" followed by the verb's present passive participle. In compound forms, this applies only to the main verbs and not the auxiliary verb.

This does not apply to the obligative active participle, which instead becomes the obligative passive participle.

Obligative

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

The verb jessere "to be"

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

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

Non-finite forms based on the present stem

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

Finite tenses based on the present stem

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

Notes:

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

Other important irregular verbs

Important irregular verbs

Principal parts	Meaning	Remarks
jō, īre, īvī, ītus	to go
avio, avēre, auvī, avūtus	to have
possō, potēre, potuvī, potūtus	to be able to
dō, dāre, dedī, dātus	to give
stō, stāre, stitī, stātus	to stand, to stay

Example Texts

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 1)

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

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