Eurolatin: Difference between revisions

Llais has thought to "modernizing" Classical Latin with grammatical and lexical features of modern European languages - not only from Romanic languages, but also from Germanic ones - to make it more "usable" and "simple". This Latin, anyway, is based mainly on Romanic languages, terms that comes from "Vulgar Latin" are thus preferred, ex.:

Eurolatin alphabet has got 24 letters:

Eurolatin has got three digraphs: '''ch''' [x], '''ph''' [f], '''th''' [θ]. They are found in Greek loan words.

Stress position is established by observing the quantity of the last but one syllable: '''If the last but one syllable is ''long'' -''' that is to say, if it has got a ''long vowel'', a ''diphthong'' or ends with a ''consonant'' '''- then here falls the stress; otherwise the stress falls on the last but two syllable.'''

Stress can never fall before of the last but two syllable. If a word has got only two syllable, then the stress falls on the last but one syllable apart from its quantity.

Some examples:

* '''lŭpus''' (wolf) = '''LŬ'''-pus;

* '''iuvĕnis''' (young) = '''IU'''-vĕ-nis (''-vĕ-'' is short);

* '''amātus''' (beloved) = a-'''MĀ'''-tus (''-mā-'' is long);

* '''felicissĭmus''' (happiest) = fe-li-'''CIS'''-sĭ-mus (''-sĭ-'' is short).

It is not precisely known how Latin speakers pronounced the vowels and how the quantity affected their pronunciation. The difference between '''ă''' and '''ā''', for example, has been explained here as between [a] and [ɑ:], but this is only a convention. There aren't sufficient clues that demonstrate that the quantity really affected the place of articulation of the vowel.

Some scholars believe that the long quantity meant only that the vowel was pronounced with a longer emission of breath: the difference between '''ă''' and '''ā''' would become then as between [a] and [a:].

Others believe that the long quantity meant that the vowel was pronounced almost twice: '''ă''' would be pronounced [a] and '''ā''' would be pronounced [a͡a].

Llyn has only given a suggestion of pronunciation, basing it on some old English texts about Latin language. The speaker can pronounce the vowels as he wants to, but his pronunciation must be coherent.

In this work the breve quantity is marked on the last but one syllable vowels to indicate that the stress falls on the last but two syllable. When in words of three or more syllables it isn't marked any quantity, it must be assumed that the last but one syllable is long and that here falls the stress, ex.:

* '''''iu''vĕnis''' is always written in this work with the marked breve;

* '''au''di''tus''' is always written in this work without the marked long.

|rowspan="1" colspan="3"|''līus''

|''lōrum''

|''lārum''

|''lōrum''

The indefinite article doesn't exist, so it is simply omitted, ex.: '''homo''' can mean both ''man'' or ''a man''. With plural nouns it can be omitted or it can be used the plural of the numeral '''ūnus, a, um''', ''one'', to mean "some, any", ex.: '''visne (una) crepitilla?''', ''do you want some crackers?'' (the neuter '''crepitillum''' means ''cracker'').

[[Category:Conlangs]]