User:Deiniol/Narbonosc
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Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2000 14:03:47 +0200 From: Christophe Grandsire <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Romance Lang Names... I have the same idea with "Roumant" (I don't want to use this name too much because it's only temporary, but as long as I don't have a name...). "Roumant" /ru'ma~/ obviously comes from "Romance" or whatever it was in Latin. I don't want to derive the name from "Latin" either, so I've decided to name it after a place. But I want to make it a language with a conculture, and I'm still wondering where to put it (I'm leaning toward the South-East of France, where there's already provençal and occitan, but I don't want to copy any of these names). So until I found the right place, I'm stuck with a temporary name I dislike... One of my ideas (a posteriori idea, not the idea I had when I designed this language) is that it could be what could have been French if, instead of being based upon the dialects of langue d'oil*, it had been based on the dialects of langue d'oc*. That would suppose that it would take place in an alternate time-line where the invasion of the Francs (with Clovis at their head) didn't happen or was stopped, and where the political centre of France would have been much more in the South than in OTL... I'm wondering if it's plausible... Christophe.
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2000 14:52:53 +0200 From: Christophe Grandsire <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Stress marking (was: Re: CONLANG Digest - 14 Oct 2000 (maglangs plea!)) In "Roumant", stress is a tricky point as it is only partly marked in orthography. The regular rule is: - when a word ends with a vowel or a *single* consonnant, stress is on the penultimate *written* syllable. - when a word ends *graphically* with two consonnants or more, stress is on the last *written* syllable. I insisted on "graphically" and "written" because like French, "Roumant" orthography is regular but not phonetic, and there are lots of silent letters or di- and tri-graphs. But this rule doesn't work anymore when the word contains: - one or more di- or trigraphs (I call them diphtongs because most of them historically derive from the diphtongs of Latin, even if the term is incorrect :) ). - one or more accented letters (accents are the acute accent ´-which can appear only on e or o-, the grave accent `-which can appear only on vowels of the last written syllable of a word-, and the circonflex accent ^-which can appear only on vowels of the non-last written syllables of a word. The tilde ~-which is extremely rare but well settled on the few words where it's used- and the trema ¨ are also accents but are not considered when it comes to stress position). Then normally the last diphtong or accented letter of the word is stressed, but that's not always true. For instance, "cuêoucué" /'kEuke/: something is written with two accented letters: ê and é, and a diphtong: ou. Yet it's not stressed on the last of them (it would be /kEu'ke/) but on the first. And this is not an isolated case.
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2000 11:36:09 +0200 From: Christophe Grandsire <[log in to unmask]> Subject: "Roumant", or whatever it will be called. PART I Well, as I have some time now (and to enjoy the fact that I'm on a Macintosh, and thus can have access to all accented vowels I want - I hope you'll be able to read them correctly), I will present a bit of my Romance conlang temporarily called "Roumant" (until I find the name of the people who speak it or its place of existence...). "Roumant" is written with the usual 26-letter Roman alphabet (but k, w and y are quite rarely used) and some accents: the acute ´, the grave `, the circonflex ^, the tilde ~, and the trema ¨. The last two are quite rarely used. The grave accent marks generally a stressed vowel in the last syllable of a word (it can also mark a different pronunciation). The circonflex accent has the same use as the grave accent, but for vowels not in the last syllable of the word. The acute accent sometimes marks stress, but mostly marks a different pronunciation than usual. The tilde marks nasalisation, but is rarely used. The trema gives back to a vowel its normal status (it has it pronounced where it's normally silent). There is one general rule of pronunciation in "Roumant": if a word ends with a consonnant, this one is not pronounced, unless phenomenon of liaison. But here's a list of the different pronunciations of letters, di- and tri-graphs (the IPA transcription is supposedly SAMPA :) ): VOWELS: a, à, â: /a/ ã: /a~/ e: not pronounced in the last syllable of a word, /E/ in front of two consonnants, /@/ otherwise (e without accent is never stressed) è, ê: /E/ é: /e/ i, ì, î: /i/ o: /O/ in front of two consonnants, or one consonnant at the end of the word, /o/ otherwise ó, ô: /o/ ò: /O/ õ: /O~/ u, ù, û: /y/ DIPHTONGUES: (I call "diphtongues", digraphs and trigraphs with a vowel value) am, an: /a~/ in front of a consonnant or at the end of a word ae: /e/ ai: /E/ au: /o/ aim, ain: /E~/ in front of a consonnant or at the end of a word aum, aun: /O~/ in front of a consonnant or at the end of a word em, en: /a~/ or /E~/, in front of a consonnant or at the end of a word ei: /E/ eu: /9/ in front of two consonnants, /2/ otherwise im, in: /E~/ in front of a consonnant or at the end of a word ie: /i/ om, on: /O~/ in front of a consonnant or at the end of a word oe: equivalent of 'eu' oem, oen: /9~/ in front of a consonnant or at the end of a word ou: /u/ um, un: /9~/ in front of a consonnant or at the end of a word ue: /y/ SEMI-VOWELS: i followed by another vowel: /j/ u followed by another vowel: /H/ ou followed by another vowel (or o when followed by a or i): /w/ CONSONNANTS: b: /b/ c: /k/ in front of a, o, u or a consonnant, /s/ in front of e, i ce: /s/ in front of a, o, u cu: /k/ in front of e, i ch: /S/, /x/ or /k/ d: /d/ f: /f/ g: /g/ in front of a, o, u or a consonnant, /Z/ in front of e, i ge: /Z/ in front of a, o, u gu: /g/ in front of e, i h: not pronounced j: /Z/ k: /k/, rare kh: /x/ or /k/, rare l: /l/ lh: /L/ (palatalised /l/) or /j/ m: /m/ n: /n/ nh: /n_j/ (palatilised /n/) p: /p/ ph: /f/ qu: /k/ in front of e, i (equivalent of 'cu') r: /r/ (trilled) s: /s/, /z/ between vowels ss: /s/ between vowels sh: /S/, rare t: /t/ v: /v/ w: /w/, rare x: /S/ y: /j/, rare (and also very rarely used as /i/) z: /z/ OTHER RULES: - double consonnants are pronounced like their simple equivalent, but they are pronounced even at the end of a word (note that 'mm' is: nasalizing of the previous vowel + /m/, and 'nn' is: nasalizing of the previous vowel + /n/) - nasal diphtongs are written with: 'm' in front of 'b', 'p', 'f', 'v', 'm', at the end of words, and sometimes in front of 's' and 'z', 'n' otherwise. LIAISON: This phenomenon (quite similar to what happens in French) triggers the pronunciation of the last consonnant of a word, when this one is followed by a word beginning with a vowel (or h + vowel). In this case, some consonnants have a particular behaviour: - b is always pronounced as [p] - c is always pronounced as [k] - d is always pronounced as [t] - g is always pronounced as [g] - v is always pronounced as [f] - s is often pronounced as [z] - m is sometimes pronounced as [n] STRESS: I won't repeat what I already said in an earlier post. See that post for a glimpse at stress marking in "Roumant". THE ARTICLE: In "Roumant" nouns are rarely found without a determiner. This one is generally an article. The definite article: It corresponds roughly to "the" and agrees in gender and number with the noun it completes: masculine singular: e /@/ feminine singular: a /a/ masculine plural: ès /E/ feminine plural: as /a/ There is also the neuter article o: /o/, used to use adjectives or verbs as nouns, or in other cases where English would use a demonstrative. In front of a vowel or h + vowel, e, a and o become l' /l/ The indefinite article: It corresponds to "a", but exists as well in the singular as in the plural: masculine singular: um /9~/ feminine singular: une /yn/ masculine plural: ums /9~/ feminine plural: unes /yn/ The partitive article: It corresponds roughly to "some" and is used with uncountable nouns, where English uses no article at all: masculine: ne /n@/ feminine: na /na/ In front of a vowel or h + vowel, it has a single form nel' [log in to unmask] Contractions: Except the partitive article, all articles have special contracted forms when they follow the prepositions â /a/, de /d@/, em /a~/, im /E~/, com /kO~/ and pêre /pEr/. I won't show them all because it would be a little boring, but here are some examples: â + e: ae /e/ de + as: das /da/ em, im + une: nune /nyn/ com + ès: coes /k2/ pêre + a: apêre /a'pEr/ THE NOUN: Like in other Romance languages, nouns are of one of two genders: masculine and feminine, and can be singular or plural. Like in French, it's not easy to determine gender of a noun from its form, but as a rule of thumb words ending with a silent 'e' are generally feminine. Also, many words that apply to people are animals are often identical in masculine and feminine (and when they're not, the feminine is often derived from the masculine by adding an -e). Plural is generally formed by adding -s (not pronounced except in case of liaison). But words ending with two consonnants have often their plural in -es, words ending with an accented vowel or a diphtongue (except nasal diphtongues in -m) make their plural in -x, and finally some words (mostly ending with a voiced consonnant or a -m) make their plural in -z. Words already ending in -s, -x or -z don't change in the plural. Wow! That's enough for the first part. Next part will deal on the adjective, adverb, and the pronouns. But for now, it's enough! :) Christophe.
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2000 15:30:50 +0200
From: Christophe Grandsire <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: "Roumant", or whatever it will be called. PART II
Now that you've digested the first part of the grammar of "Roumant",
here's the second part. It deals now with adjectives and adverbs.
THE ADJECTIVES: They are quite unoriginal compared to other Romance
languages. They agree in gender and number with the noun they complete,
the base form is the masculine singular, and forming plural and feminine
follows basically the same rules as for nouns. A particularity is that
adjectives often have the same form in masculine and feminine. As for
their place, they are generally put after the noun they complete, but
when the show an intrisic or remarquable quality, they are put in front
of the noun they complete.
The degrees of comparison:
Of course, you can compare in "Roumant" as well as with other languages.
The comparative:
The comparative of superiority is regularly formed with the adverb
mais /mE/: more + adjective. The comparative of equality is formed
with the adverb tant /ta~/: as + adjective, and the comparative of
inferiority is formed with mins /mE~/: less + adjective. The
complement of the comparative is introduced with the conjunction
come /kom/.
The superlative:
The absolute superlative ("very") is formed with the adverb mãg /ma~/: very, much + adjective, or more rarely with the suffix -îssime /'isim/. The relative superlatives are formed this way:
- superiority: e/a/ès/as/o mais + adjective: the most + adjective
- inferiority: e/a/ès/as/o mins + adjective: the least + adjective
The preposition de /d@/ is used to introduce the complement of
the superlative. If the superlative is placed after the noun it
completes, the article is not repeated in front of the superlative
(unlike French but like Spanish).
Some irregular comparatives and superlatives: The following
adjectives have irregular comparatives and superlatives of superiority:
bouem /bwE~/: good, meirr /mEr/: better, e meirr /@ mEr/: the best
mâou /'mau/: bad, peirr /pEr/: worse, e peirr /@ pEr/: the worst
grand /gra~/: big, mairr /mEr/: bigger, e mairr /@ mEr/: the biggest
pêque /pEk/: small, minrr /mE~r/: smaller, e minrr /@ mE~r/: the smallest
THE ADVERBS: There are two ways of deriving an adverb from an
adjective. The first, most frequent, and identical to many other
Romance languages is to use the suffixe -mente /'ma~t/ added to
the feminine form of the adverb. Adjectives ending in -ant, -ent
or -int make their corresponding adverbs respectively in -ammente,
-emmente /a~'ma~t/ and -immente /E~'ma~t/. The second way, rarer,
consists in adding the suffix -é /'e/ to the root of the adjective.
This form is often used with already long adjectives, and with the
ordinal numbers. Of course, some derived adverbs have irregular formations:
bouem -> biem /bjE~/: well
mâou -> mau /mo/: badly
Also, sometimes the adjective is used adverbially without change.
Some other adverbs:
Some adverbs of time:
quend /ka~/: when?
autoucâre /otu'kar/: now
atone /a'ton/: then
alhou /a'ju/: today
alhêre /a'jEr/: yesterday
maimme /mE~m/ tomorrow
têne /tEn/: early
tard /tar/: late
tantêne /ta~'tEn/: immediately
momenté /moma~'te/: soon
primé /pri'me/: first
dià /dja/: already
diou /dju/: (for) a long time
toudies /tu'di/: always
jaims /ZE~/: never
alant /a'la~/: before
apouès /a'pwE/: after
Some adverbs of place:
encì /a~'si/: here (without movement)
enlì /a~'li/: there (without movement)
enlà /a~'la/: yonder (without movement)
ennóv /a~'no/: where? (without movement)
cì /si/: here (with movement, to be used with â: to or de: from)
lì /li/: there (with movement, to be used with â: to or de: from)
là /la/: yonder (with movement, to be used with â: to or de: from)
óv /o/: where? (with movement, to be used with â: to or de: from)
prox /prO/: near
larg /lar/: far
ennant /a~'na~/: in front
empouès /a~'pwE/: behind
ennim /a~'nE~/: inside
emvouér /a~'vwe/: outside
ennâout /a~'nau/: up
embàz /a~'ba/: down
ensùs /a~'sy/: above
ensòv /a~'sO/: under
Some adverbs of quantity and intensity:
quemmãg /ka~'ma~/: how much?, how many?
bastammente /basta~'ma~t/: enough
qué /ke/: how!, what!
tant /ta~/: as much, as many, so much, so many
mãg /ma~/: a lot, much, many, very
mais /mE/: more
poev /p2/: little, few
mins /mE~/: less
de mais /d@ mE/ (put after what it completes): too much, too many
um poev /9~ p2/: a little, a few
Except 'de mais', all those adverbs can have a nominal complement
preceeded with de: of (but de can be omitted, even if it's not frequent).
Some adverbs of manner:
casi /'kazi/: nearly
asì /a'zi/: this way
couc /ku/: therefore
quêlemente /kEl'ma~t/: how?
The degrees of comparison:
They are formed like the degrees of comparison of the adjectives,
using the same adverbs (but there is no form in -îssime). The
relative superlatives must be preceeded with the neuter article o.
Some irregular comparatives and superlatives:
Just like the adjectives, there are irregular comparatives and superlatives of adverbs:
biem /bjE~/: well, mis /mi/: better, o mis /o mi/: best
mau /mo/: badly, pis /pi/: more badly, o pis /o pi/: worst
grandemente /gra~d'ma~t/: highly, maiss /mEs/: more highly, o maiss /o mEs/: most highly
pêquemente /pEk'ma~t/: "low-ly", minss /mE~s/: "more low-ly", o minss /o mE~s/: "most low-ly"
mãg /ma~/: much, mais /mE/: more, o mais /o mE/: most
poev /p2/: little, mins /mE~/: less, o mins /o mE~/: least
Wow! I was thinking of putting also the pronouns with that, but
that's a little too much I think. So I'll put the pronouns in another
post. This is also a big part of the grammar, which is also a bit
different from other Romance languages.
Christophe.
Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2000 18:26:12 +0200 From: Christophe Grandsire <[log in to unmask]> Subject: "Roumant", or whatever it may be called. PART III Well, as I promised last week, here is a review of the pronominal system of "Roumant", where will be dealt such issues as the demonstrative pronouns and adjectives (quite unusual for a Romance language I think), the interrogative, exclamative and relative pronouns and adjectives. The personal pronouns, possessive pronouns and adjectives, and finally the so-called indefinite pronouns and adjectives will be dealt in the next post (because I'm lacking time right now :( ). THE DEMONSTRATIVES: The demonstratives pronouns: Demonstratives have three levels of deixis (this/that/yon). The only real demonstrative pronouns can be used only to refer to things. They are: stecì /st@'si/: this (thing) stelì /st@'li/: that (thing) stelà /st@'la/: yon (thing) There is also a form ste /st@/ (st' /st/ before a vowel or h + vowel) whose only use is as dummy subject of impersonal verbs (like plouvîre: to rain -> ste pleuvet /st@'pl2v/: "it rains") or in expressions like st'ha /'sta/: "there is", and st'êt /'stE/: "it is". There are no real demonstrative pronouns to refer to living creatures. Instead are used the third person emphatic pronouns, followed by the adverbs cì, lì or là (connected to the pronoun by a hyphen). Thus we obtain the different forms: lui-cì /'lHisi/: this one (masc. sg.) lui-lì /'lHili/: that one (masc. sg.) lui-là /'lHila/: yon one (masc. sg.) lei-cì /'lEsi/: this one (fem. sg.) lei-lì /'lEli/: that one (fem. sg.) lei-là /'lEla/: yon one (fem. sg.) lorr-cì /'lOrsi/: these ones (pl.) lorr-lì /'lOrli/: those ones (pl.) lorr-là /'lOrla/: yons (?) ones (pl.) The demonstrative adjectives: As for demonstrative pronouns referring to living things, there are no real demonstrative adjectives. Instead, the definite articles (e, a, ès and as) are used in conjunction with the adverbs cì, lì and là. The adverbs can be put after the noun (then they are connected to it with a hyphen) or before the article, in which case they are truncated in c' /s/ for cì and l' /l/ for both lì and là (we thus lose this distinction). Both a lingue-cì /a'lE~gsi/ and c'a lingue /sa'lE~g/ thus mean: "this language". THE INTERROGATIVES AND EXCLAMATIVES: The interrogative pronouns: To ask about people, one uses the interrogative pronoun queum /k9~/: who? which has a plural form queumz /k9~/ (the difference is heard only in case of liaison). About things, one uses qué /ke/: what?, and about abstract matters one uses que /k@/: what? (which is truncated into qu' /k/ in front of a vowel or h + vowel). To propose a choice, you use the pronoun e quêou /@'kEu/: which one? which agrees in gender and number with the the understated noun: e quêou /@'kEu/: masc. sg. ès quêoux /E'kEu/: masc. pl. a quêle /a'kEl/: fem.sg. as quêles /a'kEl/: fem.pl. The interrogative and exclamative adjective: It is identical for interrogation and exclamation, means "what?, which?, or what!" and agrees with the completed noun in gender and number. It is: quêou /'kEu/: masc. sg. quêoux /'kEu/: masc. pl. quêle /'kEl/: fem.sg. quêles /'kEl/: fem.pl. THE RELATIVES: The relative pronouns: cue /k@/: that (which is cu' /k/ in front of a vowel or h + vowel) is employed when the antecedent is expressed, when the relative subclause is not separated from it with a comma, and when the relative pronoun is object of the verb of the relative subclause. In any other case, you have to employ cueum /k9~/: who(m) for people (cueumz in plural) and cué /ke/: which for things. When the relative subclause is separated from the antecedent with a comma, you can also use the form e cuêou /@'kEu/ which forms correspond to those of the interrogative pronoun e quêou. Also, when the antecedent is not expressed, you have to use: - for things, the neuter article o followed by the relative pronoun needed (cué or cue), - for persons, the third person emphatic pronouns lui, lei or lorr, followed by the relative pronoun need (cueum(z) or cue). The relative adjective: There is only one relative adjective, exactly corresponding to "whose" in English. It has the following forms: coj /kO/: masc. sg. cojs /kO/: masc. pl. cojje /kOZ/: fem. sg. cojjes /kOZ/: fem. pl. The adverbial relative pronouns: They are adverbial forms used as relatives, which are equivalent to a group "preposition + relative". They cannot be used if the antecedent is a person. They are: cuend /ka~/: when (equivalent to â + relative, with temporal meaning) óv /o/: where, to which (equivalent to â + relative, with spatial or other meaning) ennóv /a~'no/: where, at which (equivalent to em + relative) coj /kO/ (not to be confused with the possessive relative): of which (equivalent to de + relative, except for possession) Well, next time I'll finish this post about pronouns. Just hang in there! there's still a lot to see :)) . Christophe.
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 15:46:11 +0100
From: Christophe Grandsire <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: "Roumant", or whatever it may be called. PART IV
K, as I promised last week, here the second part about pronouns. Are dealt here
the personal pronouns, the possessive pronouns and adjectives as well as the
so-called indefinites.
THE PERSONAL PRONOUNS:
There are three categories of personal pronouns, deriving from the Latin
pronouns (and the demonstrative ille). They are:
- the subject pronouns,
- the complement pronouns (which can be direct or indirect),
- the emphatic pronouns
The subject pronouns:
Corresponding to "I, you, he..." ("je, tu, il..." in French), they are used
only as subjects of verbs (and also as complements of prepositions like come
/kom/: as, because it is more a conjunction than a preposition) and are not
mandatory (unlike in French). Their main use is to disambiguate identical verbal
forms. Thus, they are more used in spoken language (where some verbal forms have
phonetically collapsed into one) than in written language (where most verbal
forms are disambiguated by their orthography). They are:
1st person: iou /ju/: I nos /nO/: we
2nd person: tu /ty/: thou vos /vO/: you (pl.)
3rd person: ile /il/: he iles /il/: they (masc.)
êle /El/: she êles /El/: they (fem.)
um /9~/: one (French "on")
Remember also that the pronoun ste is used as mandatory dummy subject with
impersonal verbs.
The complement pronouns:
They are of two kinds: the direct pronouns (corresponding to direct object
complements), the indirect pronouns (corresponding to indirect complements with
â). There are also three special forms called adverbial personal pronouns.
The direct object pronouns:
1st person: me /m@/ (m' /m/ when elided): me nos /nO/: us
2nd person: te /t@/ (t' /t/): thee vos /vO/: you (pl.)
3rd person: le /l@/ (l' /l/): him lès /lE/: them (masc.)
la /la/ (l' /l/): her las /la/: them (fem.)
lo /lo/ (l' /l/): it (neuter)
3rd reflexive: se /s@/ (s' /s/): -self se /s@/ (s' /s/): -selves
The indirect object pronouns:
1st person: mi /mi/ (m' /m/ when elided): to me noi /nwi/: to us
2nd person: ti /ti/ (t' /t/): to thee voi /vwi/: to you (pl.)
3rd person: li /li/ (l' /l/): to him, her, it lorr /lOr/: to them
3rd reflexive: si /si/ (s' /s/): to -self si /si/ (s' /s/): to -selves
It must be noted that in 1st and 2nd persons, the pronouns can also be
reflexive. It's only in 3rd person that the distinction between reflexive and
non-reflexive pronouns is made, just like with the emphatic pronouns.
The adverbial complement pronouns:
Like the adverbial relative pronouns, those pronouns only refer to things and
correspond to a group "preposition + noun". They are ie /i/: "â + noun", eim
/E~/: "de + noun" and né /ne/: "em + noun" (used also to refer to nouns using
the partitive article). Their use is not unlike the use of "y" and "en" in
French.
The position of the complement pronouns:
Like in French and Spanish, complement pronouns are put in front or after the
verb depending on its form. If the verb is in impersonal mood (infinitive,
participle or gerund) or in the imperative, they are put after the verb, linked
to it and between each other with hyphens (exception when there is elision). In
this position, the order between complements (when there are more than one) is:
- first the adverbial pronouns: ie, eim and/or né (in this order),
- then the direct object pronouns: me, te, le, la, lo, nos, vos, lès, las, se
(the reflexive is always first),
- finally the indirect object pronouns: mi, ti, li, noi, voi, lorr, si
(reflexive first).
In any other case (that's to say when the verb is conjugated at another personal
mood than imperative), the complement pronouns are put in front of the verb
(after the subject when there is one), and in this order:
- first the adverbial pronouns: ie, eim and né (in this order),
- then the 1st and 2nd person pronouns, as well as the reflexives: me, te, nos,
vos, se, mi, ti, li, noi, voi, si (reflexive first),
- then the 3rd person direct object pronouns: le, la, lo, lès, las,
- finally the 3rd person indirect object pronouns: li, lorr.
The emphatic pronouns:
These pronouns are:
1rd person: mei /mE/: me nós /no/: us
2nd person: tei /tE/: thee vós /vo/: you (pl.)
3rd person: lui /lHi/: him lorr /lOr/: them
lei /lE/: her
3rd reflexive: sei /sE/: -self sei /sE/: -selves
The emphatic pronouns are used:
- to insist on the subject, like in French (but unlike French, when they are
used this way, you don't have to use the corresponding subject pronoun, the
emphatic pronoun is enough),
- as complement of prepositions (except come which is more a conjunction),
except the prepositions â, de, em, im, com and pêre which are contracted with
the pronouns and take special forms called conjugated. For example:
â + mei -> ame /am/
de + tei -> dête /dEt/
em, im + lui -> nelui /n@'lHi/
com + nós -> nocom /no'kO~/
pêre + lorr -> lopêre /lo'pEr/
de + sei -> desse /dEs/
Politeness:
Like in other Romance languages, the 2nd person singular is quite informal. To
refer to the person you talk to in a more formal way, you have to use the 3rd
person feminine pronouns (êle, la, li, se, si and lei) even if the person is
masculine. The verb agrees then with the grammatical subject and thus must be in
the 3rd person, while the possessives also agree the same way. In plural though,
there is no way to make the difference between formal and informal address. The
2nd person plural is used in both cases (thus vos, voi and vós).
The neuter pronoun lo:
The neuter pronoun lo is used to refer to events or concepts (a little like "ça"
in French). Its corresponding indirect object pronoun is li, and its
corresponding emphatic pronoun is sei (which has no reflexive meaning in this
case). Yet, those last two are nearly never used, as the adverbial pronouns can
be used to refer to an event or a concept.
THE POSSESSIVES:
The possessives agree in gender and number with the possessee, and in person and
number with the possessor (not in gender).
The possessive pronouns:
They are:
e mêou /@'mEu/: mine
e têou /@'tEu/: thine
e sêou /@'sEu/: his, hers
e nouêtre /@'nwEtr/: ours
e vouêtre /@'vwEtr/: yours (pl. possessor)
e lorr /@'lOr/: theirs
E mêou, e têou and e sêou behave exactly like the interrogative e quêou
(example: a mêle: mine, fem. sg. possessee), while nouêtre, vouêtre and lorr
simply take the -s in the plural.
The possessive adjectives:
They replace the article and are:
meu /m2/: my (masc. sg. possessee) mès /mE/: my (masc. pl. possessee)
ma /ma/: my (fem. sg. possessee) mas /ma/: my (fem. pl. possessee)
meu /m2/: my (masc. sg. possessee) mès /mE/: my (masc. pl. possessee)
ma /ma/: my (fem. sg. possessee) mas /ma/: my (fem. pl. possessee)
to /to/: thy (masc. sg. possessee) tous /tu/: thy (masc. pl. possessee)
ta /ta/: thy (fem. sg. possessee) tas /ta/: thy (fem. pl. possessee)
so /so/: his, her (masc. sg. p.) sous /su/: his, her (masc. pl. possessee)
sa /sa/: his, her (fem. sg. p.) sas /sa/: his, her (fem. pl. possessee)
nouêtre /nwEtr/: our (sg. p.) nouès /nwE/: our (pl. possessee)
vouêtre /vwEtr/: your (sg. p.) vouès /vwE/: your (pl. possessee)
lorr /lOr/: their (sg. possessee) lorrs /lOr/: their (pl. possessee)
THE INDEFINITES:
Those are various adjectives and pronouns, often with an indefinite meaning (but
not only).
The indefinite pronouns:
The most used ones are:
aulhe(s) /ol_j/ or /oj/: other(s)
cuêoucueum(z) /'kEuk9~/: someone (some people)
âoucueum(z) /'auk9~/: nobody
cuêoucué /'kEuke/: something
âoucué /'auke/: nothing
tod(s) /tO/: everything (all of the things)
câdcueum(z) /'cak9~/: everyone (all of them)
ciertes /sjErt/: some (of them, of the things)
maidums /'mEd9~/: various (people, things)
cueum cue (ste) saet /'k9~k@(st@)'se/: anybody, whoever it is
cué cue (ste) saet /'kek@(st@)'se/: anything, whatever it is
(iou) ne sav cueum /(ju)n@sa'k9~/: I don't know who
(iou) ne sav cué /(ju)n@sa'ke/: I don't know what
Aulhe is the only indefinite pronoun to be employed with the articles. Yet with
it the indefinite article is usually omitted.
The indefinite adjectives:
The most used ones are:
aulhe(s) /ol_j/ or /oj/: other
cuêoucue /'kEuk/: some (masc. sg.) cêouxcue /'kEuk/: some (masc. pl.)
cuêlecue /kElk/: some (fem. sg.) cuêlescue /kElk/: some (fem. pl.)
tod /tO/: all (masc. sg.) tod /tO/: all (masc. pl.)
todde /tOd/: all (fem. sg.) toddes /tOd/: all (fem. pl.)
câdcue /kak/: every, each
âoucue /'auk/: no
cierte /sjErt/: a certain ciertes /sjErt/: certain (pl.)
maidums /'mEd9~/: various
cuêou(x)... cue (ste) saet: any (masc.)
cuêle(s)... cue (ste) saet: any (fem.)
(iou) ne sav cuêou(x): I don't know which (masc.)
(iou) ne sav cuêle(s): I don't know which (fem.)
Aulhe and tod are employed with the articles (but the indefinite article can be
omitted with aulhe and tod is put after the article, contrary to the French and
Spanish customs).
Well, that's it for the pronominal system. Numbers can be considered as
pronouns, but they will be dealt in a later part, at least after I deal with the
verbs, which will be the subject of my next post. But for now, I'm waiting for
your comments on this part :) .
Christophe.
Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2000 15:59:35 +0100 From: Christophe Grandsire <[log in to unmask]> Subject: "Roumant", or whatever it may be called. Part V Well, two weeks ago I promised I would tell about verbs in "Roumant", so here it is! THE VERB: The verbal system of "Roumant" is not original in itself, the categories existing are quite the same as other Western Romance languages. Yet it has its originalities. The first thing is that verbs are classified into 5 groups of conjugations (not three like in other Romance languages) sharing common features, like the ending of the infinitive, but not only that. The 1st group contains the verbs whose infinitives end in -âre (e.g. cantâre /ka~'tar/: to sing). They are usually very regular. The 2nd group contains the verbs in -êre (e.g. comêre /ko'mEr/: to eat). They are also quite regular. The 3rd group, and smallest one, contains the verbs in -îre whose radical never carries the stress. They are characterized by an extension in -iss in some tenses and by their regularity (e.g. finîre /fi'nir/: to end). The 4th group contains all the other verbs ending in -îre. They are usually irregular but form patterns (like the verbs venîre /v@'nir/: to come and tenîre /t@'nir/: to have, to hold, which belong to the pattern of the verbs ending in -enîre. Those verbs share the same irregularities). Finally, the 5th group contains the remainding verbs, that's to say: - the auxiliaries stêre /stEr/: to be and avôre /a'vor/: to have, - the verbs in -ôre (like pôre /por/: to be able to), - the verbs whose infinitive is marked by doubling the last consonnant of the radical + e (like volle /vOl/: to want), - the remainding isolated irregular verbs (like îre /ir/: to go, dâre /dar/: to give, fêre /fEr/: to do, dîre /dir/: to say, etc...). In the following explanations about tenses, only endings of regular verbs (of the first three groups) will be shown. At the end of the post, a few examples of conjugations will show you what it looks like for irregular verbs. The simple tenses: There are nine simple tenses, corresponding to 4 personal moods: - the indicative present, - the indicative imperfect, - the indicative simple past, - the indicative future, - the subjunctive present, - the subjunctive imperfect, - the subjunctive future, - the conditional present, - the imperative present. Note the existence of a subjunctive future. The indicative present: It's formed from the radical (infinitive without the ending) to which are added different endings for the different persons, and different from each group (the order is obviously: 1sg, 2sg, 3sg, 1pl, 2pl, 3pl): - 1st group verbs: -e, -as, -at, -ams, -és, -am - 2nd group verbs: -e, -es, -et, -ems, -és, -em - 3rd group verbs: -ie, -ies, -iet, -issims, -issés, -issim The indicative imperfect: It's also formed from the radical to which special endings are added: - 1st group: -àv, -àvs, -àvt, -âvams, -âvés, -âvam - 2nd group: -èv, -èvs, -èvt, -êvams, -êvés, -êvam - 3rd group: -issìv, -issìvs, -issìvt, -issîvams, -issîvés, issîvam The indicative simple past: It's also formed from the radical, to which special endings are added: - 1st group: -ai, -ass, -ó, -âme, -âte, -âre - 2nd group: -ì, -ess, -é, -ême, -ête, -êre - 3rd group: -ì, -iss, -é, -îme, -îte, -îre It's the tense most full of irregularities. The indicative future: It's formed from the infinitive (from which the circonflex accent and the final -e are dropped) to which are added the endings of the auxiliary avôre in the indicative present: - -è, -às, -à, -oms, -és, -om This formation is common to most Western Romance langs. Note that the verbs like volle drop their -e and add an -r before the endings, so that the future radical is for volle: vollr-. This tense is the most regular of all. The subjunctive present: It is formed from the radical to which the following endings are added: - 1st and 2nd group: -e,-es, -et, -ioms, -iés, -iom - 3rd group: -isse, -isses, -isset, -issioms, -issiés, -issiom Note that the 1st and 2nd group don't have different endings for this tense. The subjunctive imperfect: It is formed using the 2nd person sg. of the indicative simple past (the form ending in -ss) as a radical, to which are added the endings of the subjunctive present for the 1st and 2nd group. Note that it makes subjunctive present and imperfect identical for verbs of the 3rd group, except for the 1pl and 2pl where the stress position is different. The subjunctive future: It is formed from the same base as the indicative future, to which are added the endings of the verb avôre in subjunctive present (in fact the same endings as the 1st and 2nd groups). The conditional present: It is formed from the same base as the indicative future, to which are added the endings of the verb avôre in the indicative imperfect: - -èv, -èvs, -èvt, -êvams, -êvés, -êvam The imperative present: It exists only for the second person (singular and plural), the other persons being filled with subjunctive present forms. It is formed by adding the following endings to the radical: - 1st group: -, -e, -, -, -âte, - - 2nd group: -, -e, -, -, -ête, - - 3rd group: -, -ie, -, -, -issîte, - The impersonal forms: There are four impersonal forms (one one which is already explained): the infinitive, the present participle, the past participle and the gerund. The present participle: For regular verbs, it is formed from the radical to which is added: - 1st group: -ant - 2nd group: -ent - 3rd group: -issint It can be used as an adjective, which thus agrees in gender and number with the noun it completes. The past participle: It's formed from the radical to which is added: - 1st group: -àt - 2nd group: -èt - 3rd group: -ìt It also can be used as an adjective, and also agrees in gender and number with the noun it completes. The gerund: It's an adverbial form, which is simply formed like an adverb from the present participle: - 1st group: -ammente - 2nd group: -emmente - 3rd group: -issinté (the form -issimmente is usually not used) The compound tenses: To each simple tense, there is a corresponding compound tense, formed for every verb by conjugating the auxiliary avôre in the corresponding simple tense, followed by the (invariable) past participle of the verb. Those different compound tenses are: - the indicative perfect, - the indicative pluperfect, - the indicative past perfect, - the indicative future perfect, - the subjunctive perfect, - the subjunctive pluperfect, - the subjunctive future perfect, - the conditional perfect, - the imperative perfect. It is also possible to form an infinitive perfect (avôre + past participle), a perfect participle (eiyent + past participle) and a perfect gerund (eiyemmente + past participle), but those forms are hardly ever used. The passive voice: Like in French and other modern Romance tongues, the passive voice, when it exists (that's to say, only with transitive verbs) is formed by adding the past participle (which then behaves like a predicate adjective and thus agrees in gender and number with the subject) to the auxiliary stêre: to be conjugated in the chosen tense. Some conjugation tables: Here are some conjugation tables (normally only the simple tenses are represented) to show you the stress position (which depends on the person, tense and group of the verb form) and the actual pronunciation of the endings in conjugation. Regular verbs of the 1st group: example: cantâre /ka~'tar/: to sing indicative: present: imperfect: (iou) cante /ka~t/ cantàv /ka~'ta/ (tu) cantas /'ka~ta/ cantàvs /ka~'ta/ (ile) cantat /'ka~ta/ cantàvt /ka~'ta/ (nos) cantams /ka~'ta~/ cantâvams /ka~'tava~/ (vos) cantés /ka~'te/ cantâvés /ka~'tave/ (iles) cantam /'ka~ta~/ cantâvam /ka~'tava~/ simple past: future: (iou) cantai /ka~'tE/ cantarè /ka~ta'rE/ (tu) cantass /ka~'tas/ cantaràs /ka~ta'ra/ (ile) cantó /ka~'to/ cantarà /ka~ta'ra/ (nos) cantâme /ka~'tam/ cantaroms /ka~ta'rO~/ (vos) cantâte /ka~'tat/ cantarés /ka~ta're/ (iles) cantâre /ka~'tar/ cantarom /ka~ta'rO~/ subjunctive: present: imperfect: (iou) cante /ka~t/ cantasse /ka~'tas/ (tu) cantes /ka~t/ cantasses /ka~'tas/ (ile) cantet /ka~t/ cantasset /ka~'tas/ (nos) cantioms /ka~'tjO~/ cantâssioms /ka~'tasjO~/ (vos) cantiés /ka~'tje/ cantâssiés /ka~'tasje/ (iles) cantiom /'ka~tjO~/ cantassiom /ka~'tasjO~/ future: (iou) cantare /ka~'tar/ (tu) cantares /ka~'tar/ (ile) cantaret /ka~'tar/ (nos) cantarioms /ka~ta'rjO~/ (vos) cantariés /ka~ta'rje/ (iles) cantariom /ka~'tarjO~/ conditional: imperative: present: present: (iou) cantarèv /ka~ta'rE/ cante /ka~t/ (tu) cantarèvs /ka~ta'rE/ cante /ka~t/ (ile) cantarèvt /ka~ta'rE/ cantet /ka~t/ (nos) cantarêvams /ka~ta'rEva~/ cantioms /ka~'tjO~/ (vos) cantarêvés /ka~ta'rEve/ cantâte /ka~'tat/ (iles) cantarêvam /ka~ta'rEva~/ cantiom /'ka~tjO~/ infinitive: cantâre /ka~'tar/ present participle: cantant /ka~'ta~/ past participle: cantàt /ka~'ta/ gerund: cantammente /ka~ta~'ma~t/ Regular verbs of the 2nd group: example: comêre /ko'mEr/: to eat indicative: present: imperfect: (iou) come /kom/ comèv /ko'mE/ (tu) comes /kom/ comèvs /ko'mE/ (ile) comet /kom/ comèvt /ko'mE/ (nos) comems /ko'ma~/ comêvams /ko'mEva~/ (vos) comés /ko'me/ comêvés /ko'mEve/ (iles) comem /'koma~/ comêvam /ko'mEva~/ simple past: future: (iou) comì /ko'mi/ comerè /kom@'rE/ (tu) comess /ko'mEs/ comeràs /kom@'ra/ (ile) comé /ko'me/ comerà /kom@'ra/ (nos) comême /ko'mEm/ comeroms /kom@'rO~/ (vos) comête /ko'mEt/ comerés /kom@'re/ (iles) comêre /ko'mEr/ comerom /kom@'rO~/ subjunctive: present: imperfect: (iou) come /kom/ comesse /ko'mEs/ (tu) comes /kom/ comesses /ko'mEs/ (ile) comet /kom/ comesset /ko'mEs/ (nos) comioms /ko'mjO~/ comêssioms /ko'mEsjO~/ (vos) comiés /ko'mje/ comêssiés /ko'mEsje/ (iles) comiom /'komjO~/ comessiom /ko'mEsjO~/ future: (iou) comere /'kom@r/ (tu) comeres /'kom@r/ (ile) comeret /'kom@r/ (nos) comerioms /kom@'rjO~/ (vos) comeriés /kom@'rje/ (iles) comeriom /'kom@rjO~/ conditional: imperative: present: present: (iou) comerèv /kom@'rE/ come /kom/ (tu) comerèvs /kom@'rE/ come /kom/ (ile) comerèvt /kom@'rE/ comet /kom/ (nos) comerêvams /kom@'rEva~/ comioms /ko'mjO~/ (vos) comerêvés /kom@'rEve/ comête /ko'mEt/ (iles) comerêvam /kom@'rEva~/ comiom /'komjO~/ infinitive: comêre /ko'mEr/ present participle: coment /ko'ma~/ past participle: comèt /ko'mE/ gerund: comemmente /koma~'ma~t/ Regular verbs of the 3rd group: example: finîre /fi'nir/: to end indicative: present: imperfect: (iou) finie /fi'ni/ finissìv /fini'si/ (tu) finies /fi'ni/ finissìvs /fini'si/ (ile) finiet /fi'ni/ finissìvt /fini'si/ (nos) finissims /fini'sE~/ finissîvams /fini'siva~/ (vos) finissés /fini'se/ finissîvés /fini'sive/ (iles) finissim /fi'nisE~/ finissîvam /fini'siva~/ simple past: future: (iou) finì /fi'ni/ finirè /fini'rE/ (tu) finiss /fi'nis/ finiràs /fini'ra/ (ile) finé /fi'ne/ finirà /fini'ra/ (nos) finîme /fi'nim/ finiroms /fini'rO~/ (vos) finîte /fi'nit/ finirés /fini're/ (iles) finîre /fi'nir/ finirom /fini'rO~/ subjunctive: present: imperfect: (iou) finisse /fi'nis/ finisse /fi'nis/ (tu) finisses /fi'nis/ finisses /fi'nis/ (ile) finisset /fi'nis/ finisset /fi'nis/ (nos) finissioms /fini'sjO~/ finîssioms /fi'nisjO~/ (vos) finissiés /fini'sje/ finîssiés /fi'nisje/ (iles) finissiom /fi'nisjO~/ finissiom /fi'nisjO~/ future: (iou) finire /fi'nir/ (tu) finires /fi'nir/ (ile) finiret /fi'nir/ (nos) finirioms /fini'rjO~/ (vos) finiriés /fini'rje/ (iles) finiriom /fi'nirjO~/ conditional: imperative: present: present: (iou) finirèv /fini'rE/ finisse /fi'nis/ (tu) finirèvs /fini'rE/ finie /fi'ni/ (ile) finirèvt /fini'rE/ finisset /fi'nis/ (nos) finirêvams /fini'rEva~/ finissioms /fini'sjO~/ (vos) finirêvés /fini'rEve/ finissîte /fini'sit/ (iles) finirêvam /fini'rEva~/ finissiom /fi'nisjO~/ infinitive: finîre /fi'nir/ present participle: finissint /fini'sE~/ past participle: finìt /fi'ni/ gerund: finissinté /finisE~'te/ Verbs of the 4th group: verbs in -enîre: e.g.: venîre /v@'nir/: to come indicative: present: imperfect: (iou) viem /vjE~/ venìv /v@'ni/ (tu) viems /vjE~/ venìvs /v@'ni/ (ile) vient /vjE~/ venìvt /v@'ni/ (nos) venims /v@'nE~/ venîvams /v@'niva~/ (vos) venés /v@'ne/ venîvés /v@'nive/ (iles) viênim /'vjEnE~/ venîvam /v@'niva~/ simple past: future: (iou) vim /vE~/ vendrè /vE~d'rE/ (tu) vimss /vE~s/ vendràs /vE~d'ra/ (ile) vim /vE~/ vendrà /vE~d'ra/ (nos) vimme /vE~m/ vendroms /vE~d'rO~/ (vos) vinte /vE~t/ vendrés /vE~d're/ (iles) vinre /vE~r/ vendrom /vE~d'rO~/ subjunctive: present: imperfect: (iou) viêne /vjEn/ vimsse /vE~s/ (tu) viênes /vjEn/ vimsses /vE~s/ (ile) viênet /vjEn/ vimsset /vE~s/ (nos) venioms /v@'njO~/ vimssioms /'vE~sjO~/ (vos) veniés /v@'nje/ vimssiés /'vE~sje/ (iles) viêniom /'vjEnjO~/ vimssiom /'vE~sjO~/ future: (iou) vendre /vE~dr/ (tu) vendres /vE~dr/ (ile) vendret /vE~dr/ (nos) vendrioms /vE~'drjO~/ (vos) vendriés /vE~'drje/ (iles) vendriom /'vE~drjO~/ conditional: imperative: present: present: (iou) vendrèv /vE~d'rE/ viêne /vjEn/ (tu) vendrèvs /vE~d'rE/ viem /vjE~/ (ile) vendrèvt /vE~d'rE/ viênet /vjEn/ (nos) vendrêvams /vE~d'rEva~/ venioms /v@'njO~/ (vos) vendrêvés /vE~d'rEve/ venîte /v@'nit/ (iles) vendrêvam /vE~d'rEva~/ viêniom /'vjEnjO~/ infinitive: venîre /v@'nir/ present participle: venint /v@'nE~/ past participle: venìt /v@'ni/ gerund: venimmente /v@nE~'ma~t/ Well, I've just realized that four conjugation tables may already be too many for some people, so I'll stop here for this post. But If there are people whanting to see more conjugations, there is still a lot to see. Among the verbs of the 4th group, there are still patterns like the verbs in -entîre, in -uîre, the verbs not featuring the augment -i(ss) (for lack of a better name), the verbs called "with weakening" (those are verbs like mourîre: to die that undergo a change in their radical vowel, here ou /u/ -> eu /2/ in some parts of their conjugation. Among them are nearly all the verbs whose radical vowel is e /@/ (-> i /i/) except the verbs in -enîre) and the verbs called "with loss of final" (for "loss of final consonnant of the radical", in some parts of their conjugation). And of course, there are the verbs of the 5th group, like the auxiliaries avôre: to have and stêre: to be, the verbs like volle: to want, the verbs in -ôre (like pôre: to be able to), and the isolated irregular verbs like îre: to go, dâre: to give, fêre: to do, to make, or dîre: to say. I think I will anyway make a special post for îre, avôre and stêre, because they are very particular even among irregular verbs (especially îre whose complete conjugation comes in fact from the collapsing of four different verbs!). Right now I'm waiting for your comments on this part. If you want, I will post more verbal paradigms, or I will go to other parts, like the prepositions, the negation (a very interesting feature in "Roumant") and the numerals. Or I can do both if you want :) .
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 16:21:52 +0100
From: Christophe Grandsire <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: "Roumant", or whatever it may be called. Part VI
Well, here are some news of "Roumant" (which still needs a better name). First,
I'll give you a few irregular verbs paradigms, then some hints about negation in
"Roumant", and I'll finish with the system of day-names and month-names.
VERB PARADIGMS:
This time, I won't give too much information, so I'll give the verbal paradigms
for the two auxiliaries avôre: to have, and stêre: to be, as well as for the
very irregular verb îre: to go. I think they will be of some interest for you
:).
Verbs of the 5th group: auxiliaries: avôre /a'vor/: to have
indicative:
present: imperfect:
(iou) hè /E/ avèv /a'vE/
(tu) has /a/ avèvs /a'vE/
(ile) ha /a/ avèvt /a'vE/
(nos) avoms /a'vO~/ avêvams /a'vEva~/
(vos) avés /a've/ avêvés /a'vEve/
(iles) hom /O~/ avêvam /a'vEva~/
simple past: future:
(iou) hue /y/ avrè /av'rE/
(tu) huss /ys/ avràs /av'ra/
(ile) hu /y/ avrà /av'ra/
(nos) hûme /ym/ avroms /av'rO~/
(vos) hûte /yt/ avrés /av're/
(iles) hûre /yr/ avrom /av'rO~/
subjunctive:
present: imperfect:
(iou) heie /E/ husse /ys/
(tu) heies /E/ husses /ys/
(ile) heiet /E/ husset /ys/
(nos) heiyoms /E'jO~/ hûssioms /'ysjO~/
(vos) heiyés /E'je/ hûssiés /'ysje/
(iles) heiyom /'EjO~/ hussiom /'ysjO~/
future:
(iou) avre /avr/
(tu) avres /avr/
(ile) avret /avr/
(nos) avrioms /av'rjO~/
(vos) avriés /av'rje/
(iles) avriom /'avrjO~/
conditional: imperative:
present: present:
(iou) avrèv /av'rE/ heie /E/
(tu) avrèvs /av'rE/ ei /E/
(ile) avrèvt /av'rE/ heiet /E/
(nos) avrêvams /av'rEva~/ heiyoms /E'jO~/
(vos) avrêvés /av'rEve/ eite /Et/
(iles) avrêvam /av'rEva~/ heiyom /'EjO~/
infinitive: avôre /a'vor/
present participle: eiyent /E'ja~/
past participle: hut /y/
gerund: eiyemmente /Eja~'ma~t/
Verbs of the 5th group: auxiliaries: stêre /stEr/: to be
indicative:
present: imperfect:
(iou) som /sO~/ erràv /E'ra/
(tu) ês /E/ erràvs /E'ra/
(ile) êt /E/ erràvt /E'ra/
(nos) stems /sta~/ errâvams /E'rava~/
(vos) stés /ste/ errâvés /E'rave/
(iles) som /sO~/ errâvam /E'rava~/
simple past: future:
(iou) fue /fy/ starè /sta'rE/
(tu) fuss /fys/ staràs /sta'ra/
(ile) fu /fy/ starà /sta'ra/
(nos) fûme /fym/ staroms /sta'rO~/
(vos) fûte /fyt/ starés /sta're/
(iles) fûre /fyr/ starom /sta'rO~/
subjunctive:
present: imperfect:
(iou) sae /se/ fusse /fys/
(tu) saes /se/ fusses /fys/
(ile) saet /se/ fusset /fys/
(nos) sayoms /sa'jO~/ fûssioms /'fysjO~/
(vos) sayés /sa'je/ fûssiés /'fysje/
(iles) sayom /'sajO~/ fussiom /'fysjO~/
future:
(iou) stare /star/
(tu) stares /star/
(ile) staret /star/
(nos) starioms /sta'rjO~/
(vos) stariés /sta'rje/
(iles) stariom /'starjO~/
conditional: imperative:
present: present:
(iou) starèv /sta'rE/ sae /se/
(tu) starèvs /sta'rE/ stè /stE/
(ile) starèvt /sta'rE/ saet /se/
(nos) starêvams /sta'rEva~/ sayoms /sa'jO~/
(vos) starêvés /sta'rEve/ stête /stEt/
(iles) starêvam /sta'rEva~/ sayom /'sajO~/
infinitive: stêre /stEr/
present participle: stent /sta~/
past participle: stèt /stE/
gerund: stemmente /sta~'ma~t/
Note the concurrence between forms derived from ESSE and forms derived from
STARE. Some are even so mixed that it's difficult to now from which verb they
come from.
Isolated irregular verbs of the 5th group: example: îre /ir/: to go
indicative:
present: imperfect:
(iou) iouc /ju/ pontàv /pO~'ta/
(tu) vas /va/ pontàvs /pO~'ta/
(ile) vat /va/ pontàvt /pO~'ta/
(nos) vadems /va'da~/ pontâvams /pO~'tava~/
(vos) vadés /va'de/ pontâvés /pO~'tave/
(iles) iom /jO~/ pontâvam /pO~'tava~/
simple past: future:
(iou) fue /fy/ irè /i'rE/
(tu) fuss /fys/ iràs /i'ra/
(ile) fu /fy/ irà /i'ra/
(nos) fûme /fym/ iroms /i'rO~/
(vos) fûte /fyt/ irés /i're/
(iles) fûre /fyr/ irom /i'rO~/
subjunctive:
present: imperfect:
(iou) vade /vad/ fusse /fys/
(tu) vades /vad/ fusses /fys/
(ile) vadet /vad/ fusset /fys/
(nos) vadioms /va'djO~/ fûssioms /'fysjO~/
(vos) vadiés /va'dje/ fûssiés /'fysje/
(iles) vadiom /'vadjO~/ fussiom /'fysjO~/
future:
(iou) ire /ir/
(tu) ires /ir/
(ile) iret /ir/
(nos) irioms /i'rjO~/
(vos) iriés /i'rje/
(iles) iriom /'irjO~/
conditional: imperative:
present: present:
(iou) irèv /i'rE/ vade /vad/
(tu) irèvs /i'rE/ va /va/
(ile) irèvt /i'rE/ vadet /vad/
(nos) irêvams /i'rEva~/ vadioms /va'djO~/
(vos) irêvés /i'rEve/ îte /it/
(iles) irêvam /i'rEva~/ vadiom /'vadjO~/
infinitive: îre /ir/
present participle: vadent /va'da~/
past participle: pontàt /pO~'ta/
gerund: stemmente /vada~'ma~t/
The paradigm of îre is made of the conflation of three verbs: IRE, VADERE and
PONTARE (frequentative of PONERE: to bring, or maybe deverbal made out of
PONTUS -I don't know exactly :)- which, from the meaning: to bring from one
place to another, acquired by transfer the meaning: to go from one place to
another, and gave the imperfect and the past participle to îre). Note also the
identity of forms of the simple pasts and subjunctive imperfects of stêre and
îre (like in Spanish. It seems that both convergent evolution and analogy of
meaning - like the one that gives "j'ai été" as past form of "aller" in French -
played here).
Well, so much for verb paradigms. If you have any comments or questions, feel
free to ask. Now I'll carry on with the negation in "Roumant".
THE NEGATION:
As in French, verbal negation is discontinuous, i.e. it is composed of two
parts. The first part is the small adverb ne /n@/ (n' /n/ in front of a vowel or
h + vowel) which goes in front of the verb (before the complement pronouns but
after the subject if there is one). But alone, it's not enough to make the
clause negative. In fact, in familiar speech, ne is sometimes omitted (but less
than in French). A second element is thus mandatory to make the clause negative.
It can be a negative adjective or pronoun (like âoucueum: nobody), but for a
simple negation it is a little particle (considered as an adverb) which is put
after the verb. The most often used particle for this purpose is reim /rE~/,
which is equivalent to "pas" in French but etymologically derives from RES:
thing. In Old "Roumant", it was used for insistance on the negation ("not a
thing"), but now it's just a negative particle. Reim can be used with any verb,
but some categories of verbs allow the use of other particles for simple
negation. For instance, verbs of movement or transformation often use pas /pa/:
"not a step", etymologically identical to French "pas" and to "Roumant" pas:
step, while verbs of speech use mostly the particle palavre /pa'lavr/: "not a
word". However, this last particle, from its length, keeps some of its
insistance value. So, the phrase: "ne dic palavre" means more "I don't say a
word" than "I don't say". Marked negation can be for instance: ne... mais:
not... anymore, ne... jaims: not... ever or ne... tampoev /ta~'p2/: not...
either (tampoev being the opposite of tammãg: also). Ne also has a so-called
emphatic form nõ /nO~/ which, used instead of ne, but still needing a second
part (when nõ is used instead of ne, reim is often omitted however), means:
not at all, absolutely not, not even. Nõ also means "no" and is opposed then to
ouc /u/: yes. This use of unstressed ne or stressed nõ looks a lot like the use
of "ne" and "non" in Old French. Yet I didn't know Old French could use "non"
instead of "ne" with verbs when I devised this feature :) .
Well, now let's finish with days and month-names.
DAY-NAMES AND MONTH-NAMES IN "ROUMANT":
"Roumant" has two sets of day-names and month-names. One is the so-called
popular set, derived from the old Latin forms, and used in everyday life, while
the second one, called the official set, is of Christian origin and used mostly
in written language, in contracts and official papers. Note that in "Roumant"
"day" is die /di/ (feminine noun) and "month" is meis /mE/ (masculine noun).
The popular set:
The popular set keeps the pagan deity names for all days (so it derives the
names for Saturday and Sunday from Saturni dies and Solis dies). The different
day-names of the popular set are thus:
lunde /l9~d/
marde /mard/
mercorde /mEr'kOrd/
joude /Zud/
venerde /v@'nErd/
sadorde /sa'dOrd/
soude /sud/
Those nouns are masculine. Note the anomalous stress position of venerde (from
Uenéris dies instead of correct Uéneris dies) due to analogy with the other
day-names. Also note the existence of concurrent Christian forms of sadorde and
soude, which are respectively sambte /sa~t/ and domenge /do'mE~Z/ (from SAMBATA
and DOMINICA). Nevertheless, those Christian forms are used less often than the
pagan forms, mostly among the Church itself.
Month-names of the popular set are:
jannér /Za~'ne/
fevrér /fEv're/
marce /mars/
avrêou /av'rEu/
mai /mE/
junhe /Zyn_j/
julhe /Zyl_j/
aost /a'Os/
settemvre /sE'ta~vr/
ottouvre /O'tuvr/
nouvemvre /nu'va~vr/
dicemvre /di'sa~vr/
Those nouns are masculine. Note that in the popular set, day-names and
month-names are never capitalized.
The official set:
The official set has been consciously built by the Christian Church and is thus
quite different from the popular set, derived from a natural evolution from
Latin forms. Its principal characteristic is to use noun phrases centered around
die and meis, and to use capitalization.
In the official set, the days are numbered, except for Saturday and Sunday which
use special forms:
die Segonde /dis@'gO~d/
die Tierce /di'tjErs/
die Carte /di'kart/
die Quinte /di'kE~t/
die Sexte /di'sESt/
die de Sambte /did@'sa~t/
die de Dom /did@'dO~/
The last two forms mean respectively "day of the Sabbath" and "day of the Lord".
As die is a feminine noun, those day-names are feminine, unlike the popular set.
As for the month-names, they use abbreviated forms of the Latin month names,
used with meis (except with the last four where they use directly the cardinal
numbers corresponding to the Latin month-names):
meis Jans /mE'Za~/
meis Fevs /mE'fE/
meis Mars /mE'mar/
meis Avres /mE'zavr/
meis Mais /mE'mE/
meis Juns /mE'Z9~/
meis Juls /mE'Zyl/
meis Aos /mE'zaO/
meis Sette /mE'sEt/
meis Utte /mE'zyt/
meis Nouve /mE'nuv/
meis Deice /mE'dEs/
Sometimes, the preposition de is inserted between meis and the name of the month
(giving meis de Jans, meis de Fevs, meis d'Avres, etc...). There seems to be
free variation between the two forms, but the preferred one is without the
preposition (as they are mostly written forms, it may be for a need for short
formulae).
Well, that will be all for now. Now I'm waiting for your comments and questions
about the contents of this whole post. Feel free to reply :) .
Christophe.
From: Christophe Grandsire (christophe.grandsire@free.fr)
Date: Fri Dec 29 2000 - 10:57:42 EST
Subject: "Roumant", or maybe Narbonósc. Part VII
Hi everyone,
This time I won't bother you with verbal paradigms (unless you want to, I still
have a lot to show, especially about 4th and 5th conjugations verbs :) ). No,
this time I will discuss about a nice lexical feature I found in "Roumant", as
well as an overview of the numerals. But let's first see this lexicon feature:
HOW TO TRANSLATE "MAN" AND "WOMAN" IN "ROUMANT":
In a previous post about the cluster /-min-/ and its evolution in Romance
(con)langs, I had said that in "Roumant", "man" was hom /O~/ (from Latin
hóminem) while "woman" was fêne /fEn/ (from Latin fémina). Well, in fact it's
not completely right. It's true that hom means "man" and fêne means "woman", but
only in biological sense of the word. That's to say: hom and fêne are used to
refer to men and women as living creatures, human animals, or humans in general
(hom can be used to refer to humans in general for instance). But to refer to
actual men or women, to individuals, one doesn't use those words but rather the
words dom /dO~/ (from Latin dóminus) and dône /don/ (from Latin dómina). Those
words are also used with proper names to mean respectively Mr. and Miss/Mrs (in
this case, the definite article can be used with dom and dône, except when
calling people. This is optional though). Still, there is one case where hom and
fêne are used to refer to individuals: when they are used in a married couple.
In this case, hom and fêne are respectively synonyms of spoux /spu/: husband and
spouse /spuz/: wife (note also the existence of the word comsort /kO~'sOr/:
partner which, although grammatically masculine, is semantically neutral and can
be used for both men and women).
Finally, there are also the words douem /dwE~/ and douêne /dwEn/ (same origin as
dom and dône, but with the addition of a diphtongation. Personnally I think they
come from a different dialect of "Roumant" than the main dialect I'm describing,
and they were borrowed in the main dialect with different meanings than their
counterparts). The actual meaning of those two words depends heavily on the
context but can often be approximated by "sir" and "madam". They can also refer
to the oldest man or woman of a community (French "doyen" and "doyenne"). Douêne
is also used to refer to a nanny, but can also refer to the "madam" of a
brothel. Those are not really polysemic words. They rather have a broad meaning
of "referring to a superior in a community, or someone who cares after others".
All this seems logically derived from the meaning of the Latin original word
dóminus/dómina.
Well, that's all for the nice lexical feature I was talking about. I'd like to
hear comments about it, and examples of other conlangs with similar or different
but neat lexical features like that, especially from other conRomance langs.
THE NUMERALS:
Like all other Romance languages, "Roumant" has both cardinal and ordinal
numbers. But it has also few other sets of numbers, more limited in use and more
conservative, like the multiplicative or distributive ordinals.
The cardinal numbers:
0: zéro /'zero/ 100: cente, cem /sa~t, sa~/
1: um, une /9~, yn/ 101: cente-um /sa~'t9~/
2: doux /du/ 102: cem-doux /sa~'du/
3: treis /trE/ ...
4: catre /katr/ 108: cente-utte /sa~'tyt/
5: cinque /sE~k/ 109: cem-nouve /sa~'nuv/
6: seix /sE/ 110: cem-deice /sa~'dEs/
7: sette /sEt/ 111: cente-ondice /sa~tO~'dis/
8: utte /yt/ 112: cem-doudice /sa~du'dis/
9: nouve /nuv/ ...
10: deice /dEs/ 119: cem-deice-nouve /sa~dEs'nuv/
11: ondice /O~'dis/ 120: cem-veint /sa~'vE~/
12: doudice /du'dis/ 130: cem-treinte /sa~'trE~t/
13: trêdice /trE'dis/ ...
14: catordice /katOr'dis/ 180: cente-uttante /sa~ty'ta~t/
15: quindice /kE~'dis/ 190: cem-nouvante /sa~nu'va~t/
16: seidice /sE'dis/ 200: doucentes /du'sa~t/
17: deice-sette /dE'sEt/ 300: treicentes /trE'sa~t/
18: deice-utte /dE'syt/ 400: catrecentes /katr@'sa~t/
19: deice-nouve /dEs'nuv/ 500: cincentes /sE~'sa~t/
20: veint /vE~/ 600: seicentes /sE'sa~t/
21: veint-um /vE~'t9~/ 700: settecentes /sEt'sa~t/
22: veint-é-doux /vE~te'du/ 800: uttecentes /yt'sa~t/
23: veint-é-treis /vE~te'trE/ 900: nouvecentes /nuv'sa~t/
... 1 000: mille /mil/
28: veint-utte /vE~'tyt/ 1 001: mille um /mil 9~/
29: veint-é-nouve /vE~te'nuv/ 1 002: mille doux /mil du/
30: treinte /trE~t/ ...
31: treinte-um /trE~'t9~/ 2 000: doux meile /du mEl/
... 10 000: deice meile /dEs mEl/
39: treinte-é-nouve /trE~te'nuv/ 100 000: cem meile /sa~ mEl/
40: carante /ka'ra~t/ 1 000 000: um milhom /9~ mi'l_jO~/
50: cincante /sE~'ka~t/ 2 000 000: doux milhoms /du mi'l_jO~/
60: sossante /sO'sa~t/ 10 000 000: deice milhoms /dEs mi'l_jO~/
70: settante /sE'ta~t/ 100 000 000: cem milhoms /sa~ mi'l_jO~/
80: uttante /y'ta~t/ 1 000 000 000: mille milhoms /mil mi'l_jO~/
90: nouvante /nu'va~t/ ...
1 is the only number that agrees in gender with the noun it completes. 100 is
cente in front of a word beginning with a vowel or h+vowel, but cem in front of
a word beginning with a consonnant. é: and is put between tens and units when
the unit begins with a consonnant. 1 000 is mille /mil/, except when it is
multiplied by another cardinal, in which case it's meile /mEl/. As for the
hyphen, it is put only between hundreds, tens and units.
The ordinal numbers:
They are adjectives that agree in number with the noun they complete. They exist
from 1st to 1000th (as well as its multiples), but there is no ordinal
corresponding to milhom (which is a noun, not a pronoun-adjective), and it's
impossible to build ordinals corresponding to 1 001st and such. Finally, only
the first 16 ordinals are commonly used, the others being usually replaced by
the corresponding cardinal used with the definite article. That's why I'll show
here only the first 20 ordinals:
1st: prime /prim/ 11th: ondésime /O~de'zim/
2nd: segonde /s@'gO~d/ 12th: doudésime /dude'zim/
3rd: tierce /tjErs/ 13th: trêdésime /trEde'zim/
4th: carte /kart/ 14th: catordésime /katOrde'zim/
5th: quinte /kE~t/ 15th: quindésime /kE~de'zim/
6th: sexte /sESt/ 16th: seidésime /sEde'zim/
7th: septe /sEpt/ 17th: deice-settime /dEsE'tim/
8th: ottave /O'tav/ 18th: deice-uttime /dEsy'tim/
9th: none /non/ 19th: deice-nouvime /dEsnu'vim/
10th: désime /de'zim/ 20th: vigésime /viZe'zim/
One thing worth noting is that adverbs derived from the ordinal numbers are
always adverbs in -é, not in -mente. For instance: primé: first(ly), segondé:
second(ly).
The multiplicative adverbs:
They come from Latin, even though they underwent some modification. They are
used to mean "once, twice, three times, etc..." and are commonly used, even
though they exist only until 20. Beyond 20, cardinal numbers with the feminine
noun veis /vE/: time are used.
once: sem /sE~/ 11 times: ondicens /O~di'sE~/
twice: bis /bi/ 12 times: doudicens /dudi'sE~/
3 times: terr /tEr/ 13 times: trêdicens /trEdi'sE~/
4 times: caterr /ka'tEr/ 14 times: catordicens /katOrdi'sE~/
5 times: quincens /kE~'sE~/ 15 times: quindicens /kE~di'sE~/
6 times: seicens /sE'sE~/ 16 times: seidicens /sEdi'sE~/
7 times: settens /sE'tE~/ 17 times: deice-settens /dEsE'tE~/
8 times: uttens /y'tE~/ 18 times: deice-uttens /dEsy'tE~/
9 times: nouvens /nu'vE~/ 19 times: deice-nouvens /dEsnu'vE~/
10 times: deicens /dE'sE~/ 20 times: vigens /vi'ZE~/
And after that: 21 times: veint-une veis.
The fractions:
Fractions whose denominator is between 3 and 16 are formed like in English:
cardinal number + ordinal number. 1/2 is also special and is said: une médi /yn
'medi/. All those fractions are feminine. Beyond this, fractions are given by
two cardinal numbers separated by the preposition eintre /E~tr/: between, among.
Unlike the previous fractions, those ones are masculine. For instance: doudice
eintre treinte-é-cinque: 12/35.
The decimal numbers:
Like in French, the decimal part is separated from the integer part with a comma
(comme /kO~m/ in "Roumant"). For instance: pi igàl treis comme catordice: pi
equals 3.14.
The approximative numbers:
They are masculine nouns, normally formed by adding the suffix -aim to the
corresponding cardinal number, which sometimes provokes some orthographic
changes. For example:
um cincaim /9~ sE~'kE~/: about 5.
um doudiceaim /9~ dudi'sE~/: a dozen.
There is one exception though: um milhar /9~ mi'l_ja/: about a thousand.
Those nouns are very much used in "Roumant".
The simple operations:
The four simple operations are:
- the addition: a soume /a sum/ (soumâre /su'mar/: to add):
5+7=12: cinque mais (or é) sette som (or fam, or igàl) doudice.
- the substraction: a reste /a rEst/ (restâre /rEs'tar/: to substract):
21-6=15: veint-um mins seix som (or fam, or igàl) quindice.
- the multiplication: a multiplicaceam /a myltiplika'sa~/ (multiplicâre
/myltipli'kar/: to multiply):
4*9=36: caterr nouve (or catre pêre nouve) som (or fam, or igàl)
treinte-é-seix.
- the division: a divisam /a divi'za~/ (dividâre /divi'dar/: to divide):
14/2=7: catordice eintre doux (or catordice dividàt pêre doux) som (or fam, or
igàl) sette.
Some particular numerals:
The feminine nouns ace /as/, bine /bin/, trine /trin/, caterne /ka'tErn/, quine
/kin/, sesne /sEsn/, settine /sE'tin/, uttine /y'tin/, nonine /no'nin/ and deine
/dEn/ are used to names the faces of dice and numbered cards. Except for ace,
they are not commonly used, except among professional players. The cardinal
numbers are normally used instead.
A little less commonly used, but still important are the adjectives derived from
numerals, like the adjectives in -arr (feminine -are): primarr /pri'mar/:
primary, segondarr /s@gO~'dar/: secondary, terciarr /tEr'sjar/: tertiary,
caternarr /katEr'nar/: quaternary, etc... and in -âou (feminine -âle): binâou
/bi'nau/: binary, ternâou /tEr'nau/: ternary, octâou /Ok'tau/: octal, décimâou
/desi'mau/: decimal, etc...
Finally, expressions like "one by one", "two by two" are usually rendered as "um
pouès um", "doux pouès doux" ("one after one", "two after two"), but there are
also adverbs, called distributive adverbs (which derive from the distributive
adjectives of Latin), which have the same meaning but have a strictly literary
use (they are never used in speech, but often enough in books to be still
learned, kind of like the French simple past) and exist only from one to 16.
one by one: uné /y'ne/ 9 by 9: nonené /non'ne/
two by two: biné /bi'ne/ 10 by 10: deiné /dE'ne/
three by three: triné /tri'ne/ 11 by 11: ondiné /O~di'ne/
four by four: caterné /katEr'ne/ 12 by 12: doudiné /dudi'ne/
five by five: quiné /ki'ne/ 13 by 13: trêdiné /trEdi'ne/
6 by 6: sesné /sEs'ne/ 14 by 14: catordiné /katOrdi'ne/
7 by 7: settené /sEt'ne/ 15 by 15: quindiné /kE~di'ne/
8 by 8: uttené /yt'né/ 16 by 16: seidiné /sEdi'ne/
Well, I think that's quite enough for this already much too long post :) .
Congratulations for those who read it through! As usual, all your comments are
more than welcome. If you're not fed up with "Roumant" (whose final name should
certainly be Narbonósc /narbo'nos/) I still have some things to say about the
prepositions and conjunctions, as well as about the verbs. Tell me if you want
to know :) .
Oh, and I almost forgot: Happy New Year to everyone!
Christophe.
http://rainbow.conlang.free.fr
From: Christophe Grandsire Date: Wed Jan 03 2001 - 13:00:08 EST Subject: Narbonósc. Part VIII Hi everyone, Seen that popular uprising for a new post about Narbonósc (thank you Barry), I've decided to write it down now :) . This post features some other verbal paradigms (most interesting, don't be afraid), as well as some hints on the prepositions and conjunctions. But let's begin with some verb paradigms. VERB PARADIGMS: Verbs of the 4th group: verbs in -entîre: e.g.: sentîre: to regret indicative: present: imperfect: (iou) sem /sa~/ sentìv /sa~'ti/ (tu) sems /sa~/ sentìvs /sa~'ti/ (ile) sent /sa~/ sentìvt /sa~'ti/ (nos) sentims /sa~'tE~/ sentîvams /sa~'tiva~/ (vos) sentés /sa~'te/ sentîvés /sa~'tive/ (iles) sentim /'sa~tE~/ sentîvam /sa~'tiva~/ simple past: future: (iou) sintì /sE~'ti/ sentirè /sa~ti'rE/ (tu) sintiss /sE~'tis/ sentiràs /sa~ti'ra/ (ile) sinté /sE~'te/ sentirà /sa~ti'ra/ (nos) sintîme /sE~'tim/ sentiroms /sa~ti'rO~/ (vos) sintîte /sE~'tit/ sentirés /sa~ti're/ (iles) sintîre /sE~'tir/ sentirom /sa~ti'rO~/ subjunctive: present: imperfect: (iou) sente /sa~t/ sintisse /sE~'tis/ (tu) sentes /sa~t/ sintisses /sE~'tis/ (ile) sentet /sa~t/ sintisset /sE~'tis/ (nos) sentioms /sa~'tjO~/ sintîssioms /sE~'tisjO~/ (vos) sentiés /sa~'tje/ sintîssiés /sE~'tisje/ (iles) sentiom /'sa~tjO~/ sintissiom /sE~'tisjO~/ future: (iou) sentire /sa~'tir/ (tu) sentires /sa~'tir/ (ile) sentiret /sa~'tir/ (nos) sentirioms /sa~ti'rjO~/ (vos) sentiriés /sa~ti'rje/ (iles) sentiriom /sa~'tirjO~/ conditional: imperative: present: present: (iou) sentirèv /sa~ti'rE/ sente /sa~t/ (tu) sentirèvs /sa~ti'rE/ sem /sa~/ (ile) sentirèvt /sa~ti'rE/ sentet /sa~t/ (nos) sentirêvams /sa~ti'rEva~/ sentioms /sa~'tjO~/ (vos) sentirêvés /sa~ti'rEve/ sentîte /sa~'tit/ (iles) sentirêvam /sa~ti'rEva~/ sentiom /'sa~tjO~/ infinitive: sentîre /sa~'tir/ present participle: sentint /sa~'tE~/ past participle: sentìt /sa~'ti/ gerund: sentimmente /sa~tE~'ma~t/ Note: see the alternation a~/E~. Verbs of the 4th group: verbs with "loss of final": e.g.: coucîre: to cook indicative: present: imperfect: (iou) coue /ku/ coucìv /ku'si/ (tu) coues /ku/ coucìvs /ku'si/ (ile) couet /ku/ coucìvt /ku'si/ (nos) coucims /ku'sE~/ coucîvams /ku'siva~/ (vos) coucés /ku'se/ coucîvés /ku'sive/ (iles) coucim /'kusE~/ coucîvam /ku'siva~/ simple past: future: (iou) coucì /ku'si/ courè /ku'rE/ (tu) couciss /ku'sis/ couràs /ku'ra/ (ile) coucé /ku'se/ courà /ku'ra/ (nos) coucîme /ku'sim/ couroms /ku'rO~/ (vos) coucîte /ku'sit/ courés /ku're/ (iles) coucîre /ku'sir/ courom /ku'rO~/ subjunctive: present: imperfect: (iou) couce /kus/ coucisse /ku'sis/ (tu) couces /kus/ coucisses /ku'sis/ (ile) coucet /kus/ coucisset /ku'sis/ (nos) coucioms /ku'sjO~/ coucîssioms /ku'sisjO~/ (vos) couciés /ku'sje/ coucîssiés /ku'sisje/ (iles) couciom /'kusjO~/ coucissiom /ku'sisjO~/ future: (iou) coure /kur/ (tu) coures /kur/ (ile) couret /kur/ (nos) courioms /ku'rjO~/ (vos) couriés /ku'rje/ (iles) couriom /'kurjO~/ conditional: imperative: present: present: (iou) courèv /ku'rE/ couce /kus/ (tu) courèvs /ku'rE/ coue /ku/ (ile) courèvt /ku'rE/ coucet /kus/ (nos) courêvams /ku'rEva~/ coucioms /ku'sjO~/ (vos) courêvés /ku'rEve/ coucîte /ku'sit/ (iles) courêvam /ku'rEva~/ couciom /'kusjO~/ infinitive: coucîre /ku'sir/ present participle: coucint /ku'sE~/ past participle: cout /ku/ gerund: coucimmente /kusE~'ma~t/ Note: As you can see, those verbs lose the last consonnant of their root in some cases. That's why they are called: verbs with "loss of final". Verbs of the 4th group: verbs with "weakening": e.g.: mourîre: to die indicative: present: imperfect: (iou) meure /m2r/ mourìv /mu'ri/ (tu) meures /m2r/ mourìvs /mu'ri/ (ile) meuret /m2r/ mourìvt /mu'ri/ (nos) mourims /mu'rE~/ mourîvams /mu'riva~/ (vos) mourés /mu're/ mourîvés /mu'rive/ (iles) meurim /'m2rE~/ mourîvam /mu'riva~/ simple past: future: (iou) meurì /m2'ri/ mourrè /mu'rE/ (tu) meuriss /m2'ris/ mourràs /mu'ra/ (ile) meuré /m2're/ mourrà /mu'ra/ (nos) meurîme /m2'rim/ mourroms /mu'rO~/ (vos) meurîte /m2'rit/ mourrés /mu're/ (iles) meurîre /m2'rir/ mourrom /mu'rO~/ subjunctive: present: imperfect: (iou) meure /m2r/ meurisse /m2'ris/ (tu) meures /m2r/ meurisses /m2'ris/ (ile) meuret /m2r/ meurisset /m2'ris/ (nos) meurioms /m2'rjO~/ meurîssioms /m2'risjO~/ (vos) meuriés /m2'rje/ meurîssiés /m2'risje/ (iles) meuriom /'m2rjO~/ meurissiom /m2'risjO~/ future: (iou) mourre /mur/ (tu) mourres /mur/ (ile) mourret /mur/ (nos) mourrioms /mu'rjO~/ (vos) mourriés /mu'rje/ (iles) mourriom /'murjO~/ conditional: imperative: present: present: (iou) mourrèv /mu'rE/ meure /m2r/ (tu) mourrèvs /mu'rE/ meure /m2r/ (ile) mourrèvt /mu'rE/ meuret /m2r/ (nos) mourrêvams /mu'rEva~/ meurioms /m2'rjO~/ (vos) mourrêvés /mu'rEve/ mourîte /mu'rit/ (iles) mourrêvam /mu'rEva~/ meuriom /'m2rjO~/ infinitive: mourîre /mu'rir/ present participle: mourint /mu'rE~/ past participle: meurt /m2r/ gerund: mourimmente /murE~'ma~t/ Note: Verbs of the 1st and 2nd group (not verbs of the 3rd group) can also be with weakening (like the verb of the 1st group amâre which has an alternation a /a/ - ai /E/ with the same distribution as the alternation ou /u/ - eu /2/ of the verb mourîre). Their difference with verbs of the 4th group with weakening is that they have regular futures, conditional and past participle (but don't forget the weakening: the past participle of amâre is aimàt /E'ma/). Note that all verbs with a final vowel of root e /@/ (except those in -enîre) are with "weakening", with the alternation e /@/ - i /i/ (it is the case for instance of parecîre: to seem, to appear, to be like). Verbs of the 5th group: verbs with "consonnant doubling": e.g.: volle: to want indicative: present: imperfect: (iou) vol /vO/ volàv /vo'la/ (tu) vols /vO/ volàvs /vo'la/ (ile) volt /vO/ volàvt /vo'la/ (nos) voloms /vo'lO~/ volâvams /vo'lava~/ (vos) volés /vo'le/ volâvés /vo'lave/ (iles) vollom /'vOlO~/ volâvam /vo'lava~/ simple past: future: (iou) volue /vo'ly/ vollrè /vOl'rE/ (tu) voluss /vo'lys/ vollràs /vOl'ra/ (ile) volu /vo'ly/ vollrà /vOl'ra/ (nos) volûme /vo'lym/ vollroms /vOl'rO~/ (vos) volûte /vo'lyt/ vollrés /vOl're/ (iles) volûre /vo'lyr/ vollrom /vOl'rO~/ subjunctive: present: imperfect: (iou) volle /vOl/ volusse /vo'lys/ (tu) volles /vOl/ volusses /vo'lys/ (ile) vollet /vOl/ volusset /vo'lys/ (nos) vollioms /vO'ljO~/ volûssioms /vo'lysjO~/ (vos) volliés /vO'lje/ volûssiés /vo'lysje/ (iles) volliom /'vOljO~/ volussiom /vo'lysjO~/ future: (iou) vollre /vOlr/ (tu) vollres /vOlr/ (ile) vollret /vOlr/ (nos) vollrioms /vOl'rjO~/ (vos) vollriés /vOl'rje/ (iles) vollriom /'vOlrjO~/ conditional: imperative: present: present: (iou) vollrèv /vOl'rE/ volle /vOl/ (tu) vollrèvs /vOl'rE/ vol /vO/ (ile) vollrèvt /vOl'rE/ vollet /vOl/ (nos) vollrêvams /vOl'rEva~/ vollioms /vO'ljO~/ (vos) vollrêvés /vOl'rEve/ vollte /vOlt/ (iles) vollrêvam /vOl'rEva~/ volliom /'vOljO~/ infinitive: volle /vOl/ present participle: volent /vo'la~/ past participle: volt /vO/ gerund: volemmente /vola~'ma~t/ Note: the future tenses and the conditional of this verb have been formed by analogy with other verbs of the same subgroup (like savve: to know, indicative future savvrè /sav'rE/). The previous form for the future of volle was the more easily pronounced vourè /vu'rE/. It is still of some use in the spoken language, but never found in writing (except to transcribe a dialogue and to emphasize that it's this form which has been pronounced). Verbs of the 5th group: verbs in -ôre: e.g.: pôre: to be able to indicative: present: imperfect: (iou) pó /po/ podèv /po'dE/ (tu) pós /po/ podèvs /po'dE/ (ile) pót /po/ podèvt /po'dE/ (nos) podoms /po'dO~/ podêvams /po'dEva~/ (vos) podés /po'de/ podêvés /po'dEve/ (iles) pom /'pO~/ podêvam /po'dEva~/ simple past: future: (iou) pue /py/ porè /po'rE/ (tu) puss /pys/ poràs /po'ra/ (ile) pu /py/ porà /po'ra/ (nos) pûme /pym/ poroms /po'rO~/ (vos) pûte /pyt/ porés /po're/ (iles) pûre /pyr/ porom /po'rO~/ subjunctive: present: imperfect: (iou) pode /pod/ pusse /pys/ (tu) podes /pod/ pusses /pys/ (ile) podet /pod/ pusset /pys/ (nos) podioms /po'djO~/ pûssioms /'pysjO~/ (vos) podiés /po'dje/ pûssiés /'pysje/ (iles) podiom /'podjO~/ pussiom /'pysjO~/ future: (iou) pore /por/ (tu) pores /por/ (ile) poret /por/ (nos) porioms /po'rjO~/ (vos) poriés /po'rje/ (iles) poriom /'porjO~/ conditional: imperative: present: present: (iou) porèv /po'rE/ pode /pod/ (tu) porèvs /po'rE/ pó /po/ (ile) porèvt /po'rE/ podet /pod/ (nos) porêvams /po'rEva~/ podioms /po'djO~/ (vos) porêvés /po'rEve/ pôte /pot/ (iles) porêvam /po'rEva~/ podiom /'podjO~/ infinitive: pôre /por/ present participle: vodent /po'da~/ past participle: put /py/ gerund: podemmente /poda~'ma~t/ Note: Etymologically, most of the verbs in -ôre (including avôre) come from Latin verbs in -ere with short e, and are mostly cognate with French verbs in -oir. Verbs of the 5th group: isolated irregular verbs: e.g.: dâre: to give indicative: present: imperfect: (iou) donc /dO~/ donàv /do'na/ (tu) das /da/ donàvs /do'na/ (ile) dat /da/ donàvt /do'na/ (nos) donams /do'na~/ donâvams /do'nava~/ (vos) donés /do'ne/ donâvés /do'nave/ (iles) dam /da~/ donâvam /do'nava~/ simple past: future: (iou) dì /di/ darè /da'rE/ (tu) dess /dEs/ daràs /da'ra/ (ile) dé /de/ darà /da'ra/ (nos) dême /dEm/ daroms /da'rO~/ (vos) dête /dEt/ darés /da're/ (iles) dêre /dEr/ darom /da'rO~/ subjunctive: present: imperfect: (iou) done /don/ desse /dEs/ (tu) dones /don/ desses /dEs/ (ile) donet /don/ desset /dEs/ (nos) donioms /do'njO~/ dêssioms /'dEsjO~/ (vos) doniés /do'nje/ dêssiés /'dEsje/ (iles) doniom /'donjO~/ dessiom /'dEsjO~/ future: (iou) dare /dar/ (tu) dares /dar/ (ile) daret /dar/ (nos) darioms /da'rjO~/ (vos) dariés /da'rje/ (iles) dariom /'darjO~/ conditional: imperative: present: present: (iou) darèv /da'rE/ done /don/ (tu) darèvs /da'rE/ da /da/ (ile) darèvt /da'rE/ donet /don/ (nos) darêvams /da'rEva~/ donioms /do'njO~/ (vos) darêvés /da'rEve/ dâte /dat/ (iles) darêvam /da'rEva~/ doniom /'donjO~/ infinitive: dâre /dar/ present participle: donant /do'na~/ past participle: dat /da/ gerund: donammente /dona~'ma~t/ Well, I think that's enough for the verbs for today. I congratulate everyone who dared to read all this. Now let's see a little about the prepositions and conjunctions. THE PREPOSITIONS: Narbonósc prepositions are quite like the prepositions of the other Western Romance langs. Still, they have a few peculiarities, like the separation of Latin "in" into two different prepositions "im" and "em" with different meanings, as well as the fact that prepositions contract both with the articles and the personal pronouns. This is a small list of the most common prepositions and their meanings. Among them, only the first six ones can contract. â /a/: - place where you go (it is never used to mark the place where you are), - the number of the day in the month (in this use, it may be omitted), - the hour (it can also be omitted), - noun complements describing the goal of use of an object, - the indirect complement of a verb (dative or like), - some verbs trigger the use of this preposition for their complement, - some idioms. de /d@/ (d' /d/ in front of a vowel or h+vowel): - place where you come from, - noun complements of possession, position, matter, etc... - some idioms. em /a~/: - place where you are, - date, time, - color, clothing, - the language you're speaking in, - some idioms. im /E~/: - in(to), - (with)in. com /kO~/: - with (as well accompaniement as means), - means, manner, - by (means). pêre /pEr/: - by (agent of a passive verb), - by, times (multiplications), - in, on (movement inside a place), - while, during. pra /pra/: - goal, destination, - towards (direction taken). por /pO/: - exchange (for, in exchange of), - for (in favour of), - around (unprecise location in time). ant /a~/: - before (literary style), - in front of (literary style). pouès /pwE/: - after (literary style), - behind (literary style). alant de /a'la~ d@/: - before. apouès de /a'pwE d@/: - after. ennant de /a~'na~ d@/: - in front of. empouès de /a~'pwE d@/: - behind. vouér /vwe/: - out of. ennim de /a~'nE~ d@/: - inside. emvouér de /a~'vwe d@/: - outside. ennâout de /a~'nau d@/: - at the top of. embàz de /a~'ba d@/: - at the bottom of. ensùs de /a~'sy d@/: - above. ensòv de /a~'sO d@/: - under. sus /sy/: - on. sov /sO/: - under. prox de /prO d@/: - near to. larg de /lar d@/: - far from. dês /dE/: since. dês ste fat /dE st@ fa/: for (duration). haste /ast/: - until. contre /kO~tr/: - against. eintre /E~tr/: - between, among. sâouv /'sau/: - except, but. sim /sE~/: - without. Wow! I didn't think it would make such a long list! Well, I think I bothered you enough for today, so I'll save the conjunctions for later. After all, I have a few things to say about them too :) . I will add to my next post about the conjunctions something I discovered: Narbonósc handles differently indefinite object complements when the verb they depend on is negated or not! I hope I'm making you curious! I like to keep the suspense! :) Of course, all your comments about what I've written now are welcome. Christophe.
From: Christophe Grandsire Date: Thu Jan 04 2001 - 11:09:00 EST Subject: Narbonósc. Part IX OK, as I promised, here is a review of the Narbonósc conjunctions, followed by a small discussion about the way Narbonósc handles indefinite objects in negative sentences. THE CONJUNCTIONS: As the other Romance langs (but unlike my other Romance conlang Reman), Narbonósc makes a distinction between the conjunctions of coordination, used to coordinate two words or phrases of the same nature, and the conjunctions of subordination, used to form subclauses. I'll follow this distinction by presenting first the conjunctions of coordination and then the conjunctions of subordination. The conjunctions of coordination: The main conjunctions are: é /e/: and, ou /u/: or, mas /ma/: but, saet... saet /se/: whether... or, nõ... nõ /nO~/: neither... nor, sénõ /'senO~/: if not, except, puis /pHi/: so, then, porstelì /pOrst@'li/: that's why, por /pO/: for, nonostant /nonOs'ta~/: however, nevertheless. Among them, the only remarquable ones are the pair nõ... nõ. As you may already know, the negation in Narbonósc is discontinuous, like in French. The first part is usually the unstressed word ne /n@/ (more rarely the stressed word nõ /nO~/), the second part an adverb of nominal origin like reim /rE~/, pas /pa/ or palavre /pa'lavr/. The peculiarity of the negative conjunction pair nõ... nõ is that it corresponds to the first part of the negation (the ne), not to the second like in French. So when it is used to connect verb clauses, it must still be added to the clause a second part of negation of type reim (the nõ replaces the ne, not the second part in reim or equivalent). The conjunctions of subordination: Some of the them trigger the use of the subjunctive mood in the subclause. Those conjunctions will be marked by a +subj. in this case. cue /k@/ (cu' /k/ in front of a vowel or h+vowel): that, cuend /ka~/: when, come /kom/: as, since, por cue /pO k@/: because, pra cue +subj. /pra k@/: in order that, dià cue /dja k@/: because, asì come /a'zi kom/: as, like, pêre cue /pEr k@/: while, tant come /ta~ kom/: as long as, ant cue +subj. /a~ k@/: before (literary style), alant de cue +subj. /a'la~ d@ k@/: before, pouès cue /pwE k@/: after (literary style), apouès de cue /a'pwE d@ k@/: after, dês cue /dE k@/: since, haste cue +subj. /ast k@/: until, tantêne cue /ta~'tEn k@/, asì cue /a'zi k@/: as soon as, mentre /ma~tr/: whereas, sé /se/: (conditional) if, nu~ /n9~/: whether, (interrogative) if, come sé +subj. /kom se/: as if, biem cue /bjE~ k@/: although, biem cue +subj.: even if, even though, com cue +subj. /kO~ k@/: provided that. The most remarquable in this is the presence of nu~ (by the way, does anyone know if it's possible to get a u with a tilde over it? Is there any ALT sequence for that?) meaning "whether" and deriving directly from Latin "num". Unlike its Latin ancestor it is used only in subclauses though. Well, if you have any questions or comments about this, feel free to reply. Now I'll go to another feature of Narbonósc grammar. THE TREATMENT OF INDEFINITE OBJECTS IN NEGATIVE CLAUSES: Depending whether a noun is countable or uncountable, it takes when it's indefinite respectively the indefinite article (um(s), une(s)) or the partitive article (ne, na, nel'). This is true also with indefinite objects of affirmative verbs, but not anymore with negative verbs. In this case, the indefinite object doesn't take an article anymore, but is preceeded with the preposition em instead. This may look strange, but French uses a parallel construction with the preposition "de" always put in front of the indefinite object of a negative verb. One consequence of this construction is the expression reim em + noun without article which means "no + noun" (in French, there is the expression "pas de + noun" which corresponds well to the Narbonósc form). All this concerns only the indefinite object. The definite object bears no difference whatsoever whether it is the object of an affirmative or negative verb. So, I think that will be enough for today (after all, you didn't even have time to digest my previous post :) ). Next time I may put some more verb paradigms (I still didn't talk about the verbs in -uîre like conduîre: to drive, or about the verbs like vivîre: to live. I also haven't talked yet about the irregular verbs fêre: to do, to make - and not *fâre as I said in a previous post - and dîre: to say) and talk more about semantical features of Narbonósc, until I'm able to translate something longer than the Conlang T-shirt sentence :) . Christophe. http://rainbow.conlang.free.fr
For more info and a text sample, see: http://steen.free.fr/relay10/narbonosc.html
