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{{WIP}}
{{Infobox|name=Élbica
{{Infobox|name=Helvica
|pronounce='ɛlbika
|pronounce=/"ElvIk@/
|tu=[[Ill Bethisad]]
|tu=[[Ill Bethisad]]
|species=Human
|species=Human
Line 17: Line 16:
|wo=SVO
|wo=SVO
|creator=[[User:Sectori|Sectori]]
|creator=[[User:Sectori|Sectori]]
|date=May 2006}}
|date=July, 2009}}
Elbic is the language of the Principality of Elba, an island off the coast of Tuscany. It is a Central and Southern Italian language, related to Neapolitan and Tuscan Italian. It has two sets of changes to initial consonants, similar to the mutations found in the Celtic consonants: the geminate mutation (also found in [[Wikipedia:Neapolitan|Neapolitan]]), and the gorgic mutation ([[Wikipedia:Tuscan gorgia|Tuscan Italian]]).
''Nota bene: Elbic has undergone some changes since this page was last updated, especially to nominal morphology but also limited changes to verbal morphology. I'm not sure if/when this page will be up-to-date.''
 
Elbic is the language of the Principality of Elba, an island off the coast of Tuscany. It is a Central and Southern Italian language, although it has been relatively isolated, related to Neapolitan and Tuscan Italian.
 
==Phonology==
Elbic phonology is fairly ordinary for a Romance language.


==Phonotactics/Orthography/Stress==
The Elbic alphabet contains 37 distinct letters. There are 15 vowel letters representing ten sounds. Elbic has the following vowels:
===Vowels===
===Vowels===
<br/>
Elbic has a straightforward seven-vowel system inherited from Vulgar Latin. It also has three diphthongs, two falling and one rising: /jɛ/, /wɔ/, and /ai/.
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">


Line 31: Line 33:
| ||colspan=2| Front ||colspan=2| Near-front ||colspan=2| Central ||colspan=2| Near-back ||colspan=2| Back
| ||colspan=2| Front ||colspan=2| Near-front ||colspan=2| Central ||colspan=2| Near-back ||colspan=2| Back
|-
|-
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| High || {{IPA|i}} || || || || || || || || || {{IPA|u}}
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| High || i || || || || || || || || || u
|-
|-
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Near-high || || || {{IPA|ɪ}} || || || || || {{IPA|ʊ}} || ||  
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Near-high || || || || || || || || || ||  
|-
|-
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| High-mid || || || {{IPA|e}} || || || || || || || {{IPA|o}}
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| High-mid || || || ê || || || || || || || ô
|-
|-
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Mid || || || || || {{IPA|ə}}
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Mid || || || e || || || || || || || o
|-
|-
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Low-mid || || || {{IPA|ɛ}} || || || || || || || {{IPA|ɔ}}
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Low-mid || || || || || || || || || ||  
|-
|-
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Near-low || || ||
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Near-low || || ||
|-
|-
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Low || || || || || {{IPA|a}}
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Low || || || || || a
|}
|}
</div>
</div>
Orthographically, these are represented by:
<br/>
<div style="text-align: center;">


{| style="text-align: center; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1pt solid #c0c0c0;"
Orthographically, it should be noted that '''e''' and '''o''' occasionally represent /e/ and /o/; as a general rule, only the first vowel in a word that would receive a circumflex does. The diphthong /jɛ/ is represented orthographically as '''ië''', the diphthong /wɔ/ as '''uo''', and the diphthong /ai/ as '''ai'''.
!colspan=11 style="text-align:center; background: #efefef;"| Vowels
|- style="vertical-align: center; font-size: x-small; height: 2em"
| ||colspan=2| Front ||colspan=2| Near-front ||colspan=2| Central ||colspan=2| Near-back ||colspan=2| Back
|-
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| High || í || || || || || || || || || ú
|-
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Near-high || || || ì || || || || || ù || ||
|-
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| High-mid || || || è || || || || || || || ó
|-
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Mid || || || || || à
|-
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Low-mid || || || é || || || || || || || ò
|-
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Near-low || || ||
|-
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Low || || || || || á
|}


</div>
===Consonants===
There are a set of unaccented vowels <a e i o u>. These, when stressed, are pronounced as the acute vowels, when unstressed as the grave vowels.
Elbic has either 22 or 24 consonants, depending on whether the semivowels /w/ and /j/ are treated as allophonic realizations of /i/ and /u/ or as consonants in their own right.


===Consonants===
<br/>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
{| style="text-align: center; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1pt solid #c0c0c0;"
{| style="text-align: center; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1pt solid #c0c0c0;"
!colspan=17 style="text-align:center; background: #efefef;"| Consonants
!colspan=17 style="text-align:center; background: #efefef;"| Consonants
|- style="vertical-align: center; font-size: x-small; height: 2em"
|- style="vertical-align: center; font-size: x-small; height: 2em"
| ||colspan=2| Bilabial ||colspan=2| Labiod. ||colspan=2| Dental ||colspan=2| Alveolar ||colspan=2| Post-alv. ||colspan=2| Palatal ||colspan=2| Velar ||colspan=2| Glottal
| ||colspan=2| Bilabial ||colspan=2| Labiod. ||colspan=2| Dental ||colspan=2| Alveolar ||colspan=2| Post-alv. ||colspan=2| Palatal ||colspan=2| Velar ||colspan=2| Labiovelar
|-
|-
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Nasal || || {{IPA|m}} || {{IPA|ɱ}} || || || || || {{IPA|n}} || || || || {{IPA|ɲ}} || ||
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Nasal || || m || || || || || || n || || || || gn || ||
|-
|-
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Plosive || {{IPA|p}} || {{IPA|b}} || || || {{IPA|t}} || {{IPA|d}} || || || || || || || {{IPA|k}} || {{IPA|g}}
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Plosive || p || b || || || t || d || || || || || || || c(h) || g(h) || qu || gu
|-
|-
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Fricative || {{IPA|ɸ}} || {{IPA|β}} || || || {{IPA|θ}} || {{IPA|ð}} || {{IPA|s}} || || {{IPA|ʃ}} || || || || {{IPA|x}} || {{IPA|ɣ}} ||
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Fricative || || || f || v || || || s || || x || g(i) || || || || || ||  
|-
|-
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Affricate || || || || || || {{IPA|dz}} || || || {{IPA|t∫}} || {{IPA|dʒ}} || || {{IPA|kw}}||({{IPA|ks}})||
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Affricate || || || || || ç || z || || || c(i) || || || || ||
|-
|-
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Approximants || ||({{IPA|w}})|| || || || || || || || || ||({{IPA|j}})
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Approximants || ||(u)|| || || || || || || || || ||(i)
|-
|-
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Trill || || || || || || || || {{IPA|r̥}}|| {{IPA|r}}
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Trill || || || || || || || || || r
|-
|-
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Lateral Approximant || || || || || || || || {{IPA|l}} || {{IPA|ʎ}}
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Lateral Approximant || || || || || || || || l || || || || lh
|}
|}
</div>


</div>
Orthographically, '''ch''' and '''gh''' are used for /k/ and /g/ before front vowels, '''c''' and '''g''' before back vowels. '''c''' and '''g''' are used for // and /ʒ/ before front vowels, '''ci''' and '''gi''' before back vowels. All consonants can be geminated, in which case they are written twice, with the following exceptions:
These are represented orthographically by the characters following. However, there are some important notes. /dz/ when adjacent to an unvoiced consonant or initially is [ts]. Double consonants <nn ss>, etc. are pronounced /nn ss/, etc. /t∫/ is [k] before <a o u> in all variations. // is [g] before <a o u> in all variations. There is also an orthographically represented <h>. <h> is non-phonemic, but rather represents /ˈ/, a movement of stress. <h> always precedes a vowel, and moves the stress of the word to that vowel. /kw/ is /k/ before <e i> in all variations. < i u> in diphthongs are pronounced /j w/. /ɲ ʎ/ before <a o u> in all variations are /gn gl/. /∫/ in non-Elbic words (i.e. lone words) is /ks/. /dz/ word-initially is /ts/
* geminated '''lh''' is written '''llh'''
<br/>
* geminated '''ç''' is written '''tç'''
<div style="text-align: center;">
* geminated '''qu''' is written '''cqu'''
* geminated '''gn''' is written '''ggn'''


{| style="text-align: center; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1pt solid #c0c0c0;"
Written Elbic utilizes four diacritics:
!colspan=17 style="text-align:center; background: #efefef;"| Consonants
* the circumflex is used to mark the vowels /e/ and /o/ (written '''ê''' and '''ô''')
|- style="vertical-align: center; font-size: x-small; height: 2em"
* the diaeresis is used to mark the diphthong /jɛ/ (written '''ië''')
| ||colspan=2| Bilabial ||colspan=2| Labiod. ||colspan=2| Dental ||colspan=2| Alveolar ||colspan=2| Post-alv. ||colspan=2| Palatal ||colspan=2| Velar ||colspan=2| Glottal
* the acute accent is used to mark irregular stress on a non-final syllable
|-
* the grave accent is used to mark irregular stress on a final syllable
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Nasal || || m || || hm || || || || n || || || || hn || ||
|-
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Plosive || p || b || || || t || d || || || || || || || ch || gh
|-
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Fricative || hp || hb || || || ht || hd || s || || x || || || || hc(h) || hg(h) ||
|-
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Affricate || || || || || || z || || || c || g || || qu || (x) ||
|-
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Approximants || ||(u)|| || || || || || || || || ||(i)
|-
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Trill || || || || || || || hr || r
|-
|style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;"| Lateral Approximant || || || || || || || || l || hl
|}


</div>
Note that an acute or grave takes precedence over the diaeresis (e.g. '''Miéxxicu''' ''Mexico'').


===Stress===
===Stress===
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* When determining the stress of a word, always initially place it on the final syllable.
* When determining the stress of a word, always initially place it on the final syllable.
* If the final phoneme is a vowel, stress moves back one syllable.
* If the final sound is a vowel, stress moves back one syllable.
* If the final syllable ends in a nasal or an approximant, move the stress back one syllable.
* If anywhere in the word there is a vowel with an acute or grave, move the stress to the accented vowel.
* If anywhere in the word there is an <h> preceding a vowel, move the stress to the h-vowel.
* In monosyllabic words, the vowel is generally treated as if it were unstressed.
* In monosyllabic words, the vowel is always treated as if it were stressed.


Thus, Mhexicó, the Elbic name for Mexico, is /mˈɛksɪko/, and Helva, the Elbic name for Elba, is /ˈɛlvə/. No Nápolitanno, or "a Neapolitan", is /no napɔlɪtˈannɔ/.
Thus, '''Miéxxicu''', the Elbic name for Mexico, is /'mjɛʃ:iku/, '''Êlba''', the Elbic name for Elba, is /'elba/, the definite article '''la''' is /la/, and '''nu napoletannu''' ''a Neapolitan'' is /nu napolɛ'tan:u/.


==Nominal Morphology==
==Nominal morphology==
Phew. That's over. Good. Now we can get onto the interesting bit. Nouns in Elbic belong to one of three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. There are also two numbers: singular and plural. All Elbic nouns end in vowels. The changes applied to vowels to go from singular to plural are as follows:
Nouns in Elbic belong to one of two genders, masculine or feminine. The vast majority of nouns end in a vowel, and all nouns form their plurals by suffixing '''s''':


* -o>-i (in cases where the noun ends in -io, the i becomes -ì); '''gatto'''>'''gatti'''
* '''duomnu''' (lord) —> '''duomnus'''
* -a>-e; '''cossina'''>'''cossine'''
* '''acqua''' (water) —> '''acquas'''
* -u>-e; '''frasu'''>'''frase'''
* '''princêppi''' (prince) —> '''princêppis
* -e>-i; '''traduzione'''>'''traduzioni'''
* '''parti''' (part, section) —> '''partis'''
* -i>-e (very few nouns end in -i); '''spaghetti'''>'''spaghette'''
* '''mannu''' (hand) —> '''mannus'''
* '''zi''' (day) —> '''zis'''


The singular endings can tell you a significant amount about the gender of a noun. Here are some basic guidelines.
Generally speaking, nouns that end in '''u''' are masculine and nouns that end in '''a''' are feminine (although this is not always so: '''mannu''' is feminine, for example). Nouns ending in other vowels might belong to either gender, although there are some observable patterns. For example,


* Most nouns ending in -o are masculine; '''lo gatto'''
* nouns ending in '''ionni''' ('''stazionni''' "station", e.g.) are feminine
* Most nouns ending in -a are feminine; '''la ccossina'''
* nouns ending in '''atti''' ('''universitatti''' "university", e.g.) are feminine
* Most nouns ending in -u are neuter; '''lu ffrasu'''
* nouns ending in '''orri''' ('''amorri''' "love", e.g.) are masculine
* All nouns ending in -zione are feminine; '''la ttraduzione'''
* All nouns ending in -ismo are neuter; '''lu ffaxismo'''
* Nouns ending in -e or -i can be of any gender, and so you just have to memorize them; '''lo cambiatte''', '''lu mmomenti'''


===Articles===
===Articles===
Along with nouns must come articles. Elbic has six definite articles and four indefinite articles. The definite articles are equivalent to English "the" and precede the noun they modify. There are both singular and plural definite articles. The indefinite articles are equivalent to English "a/an" and precede the noun they modify. There are only singular indefinite articles. The definite articles are as follows.
Elbic has two types of articles, definite and indefinite, each of which has five forms. The forms of the definite article are as follows:


* '''lo''': masculine singular; '''lo gatto'''
{|
* '''la''': feminine singular; '''la ccossina'''
! || Masc. || Fem. || Before vowel
* '''lu''': neuter singular; '''lu ffrasu'''
|-
* '''l''': singular (substitutes for '''lo''', '''la''', or '''lu''' before a vowel); '''l'arbollo'''
| '''Sing.''' || lu || la || l'
* '''li''': masculine plural; li gatti
|-
* '''le''': feminine and neuter plural; '''le ffrase'''
| '''Plur.''' || lus || las || *
|}


The indefinite articles are as follows.
Plural nouns that begin with a vowel use the normal plural forms. For example, '''lu duomnu''' (the lord), '''las mannus''' (the hands), '''l'universitatti''' (the university), '''lus amorris''' (the loves).


* '''no''': masculine singular; '''no gatto'''
The forms of the indefinite article are as follows:
* '''na''': feminine singular: '''na ccossina'''
* '''nu''': neuter singular; '''nu ffrasu'''
* '''n'''': singular (substitutes for no, na, or nu before a vowel); '''n'arbollo'''


===Geminate Mutation===
{|
You may have noticed that some of the nouns changed when articles were placed in front of them. This is the geminate mutation, one of the more unique features of Elbic, shared with Neapolitan. The geminate mutation is a doubling of the initial consonant of a word. It is triggered by the feminine and neuter articles. Any word following these articles will experience the doubling. However, only certain consonants are doubled. Here is the list. It includes the soft mutation for future reference as well.
! || Masc. || Fem. || Before vowel
|-
| '''Sing.''' || nu || na || n'
|-
| '''Plur.''' || nus || nas || *
|}


  {| border=1
Plural nouns that begin with a vowel use the normal plural forms. The plural indefinite article is equivalent to English "some" or French "des". The definite article contracts with the prepositions '''a''' (at, to, towards), '''da''' (from, of), '''in''' (in, at, on), and '''su''' (around, on).
  ! Initial Consonant || Geminate Form || Soft Form
  |-
  | t  || tt  || ht
  |-
  | d  || dd  || hd
  |-
  | c  || cc  || hc
  |-
  | g  || gg  || hg
  |-
  | z  || zz  || z
  |-
  | p  || pp  || hp
  |-
  | b  || bb  || hb
  |-
  | ch  || cch  || hch
  |-
  | gh  || ggh  || hgh
  |-
  | n  || nn  || hn
  |-
  | m  || mm  || hm
  |-
  | l  || ll  || hl
  |-
  | r  || rr  || hr
  |-
  | f  || ff  || hf
  |-
  | v  || vv  || hv
  |-
  | x  || xx  || x
  |}


So you can see how the transfer from '''frasu''' to '''lu ffrasu''' occurs.
====Contraction with ''a''====
{|
! ''a'' || Masc. || Fem. || Before vowel
|-
| '''Sing.''' || allu || alla || all'
|-
| '''Plur.''' || allus || allas || *
|}


* '''cossina''' /kɔssinə/>'''la ccossina''' /la kkɔssinə/
====Contraction with ''da''====
* '''nápolitanna''' /napɔlɪtannə/>'''la nnápolitanna''' /la nnapɔlɪtannə/
{|
* '''frasu''' /frasʊ/>'''lu ffrasu''' /lu ffrasʊ/
! ''da'' || Masc. || Fem. || Before vowel
* '''nome''' /nomɛ/>'''lu nnome''' /lu nnomɛ/
|-
| '''Sing.''' || dallu || dalla || dall'
|-
| '''Plur.''' || dallus || dallas || *
|}


==Verbal Morphology==
====Contraction with ''in''====
Elbic has a great many verbs. All verbs belong to one of four types: -ha, -he, -hi, and irregular. This section will demonstrate the conjugations of verbs from each type.
{|
! ''in'' || Masc. || Fem. || Before vowel
|-
| '''Sing.''' || gnellu || gnella || gnell'
|-
| '''Plur.''' || gnellus || gnellas || *
|}


===Subject Pronouns===
====Contraction with ''su''====
Before conjugating a verb, it is important to learn Elbic's subject pronouns. There are six personal subject pronouns, corresponding to English "I, you, he, she, we, you (all), and they". In Elbic, they are:
{|
! ''a'' || Masc. || Fem. || Before vowel
|-
| '''Sing.''' || sullu || sulla || sull'
|-
| '''Plur.''' || sullus || sullas || *
|}


  {| border=1
==Pronominal morphology==
  ! Person || Singular || Plural
Elbic pronouns, like nouns, distinguish two numbers and between two and five cases. In the third person, there is a masculine-feminine distinction, as well. The cases shown by the pronouns are the following: for the first and second person pronouns, nominative, genitive, and oblique-reflexive cases are distinguished. For the impersonal pronoun '''si''', the nominative and the oblique-reflexive are identical. For the third person pronouns, nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, and reflexive are distinguished, and there exist special disjunctive forms, as well.
  |-
  | 1P  || io  || noi
  |-
  | 2P  || tu  || voi
  |-
  | 3Pm || lei  || lori
  |-
  | 3Pf || lui  || lore
  |}


Like many European languages, Elbic differentiates between formal and informal pronouns. Similarly to French, Elbic uses the plural second person pronoun, '''voi''', to refer to a person you wish to address formally. In practice, however, this is infrequently used, as the Elbans are a generally relaxed and informal group.
===First person===
The first person pronoun declines as follows:
{|
! || Sing. || Plur.
|-
| '''Nom.''' || giu || nus
|-
| '''Gen.''' || miu || nuostru
|-
| '''O.-R.''' || mi || nui
|}


===Verb Conjugation: Simple Tenses===
===Second person===
Elbic verbs are composed of three parts:
The second person pronoun declines as follows:
{|
! || Sing. || Plur.
|-
| '''Nom.''' || tu || vus
|-
| '''Gen.''' || tiu || vuostru
|-
| '''O.-R.''' || ti || vui
|}


''stem''+'''h'''+''theme vowel''
===Third person===
 
The third person pronoun declines as follows:
Elbic verbs are conjugated by removing the final -'''h'''-''theme vowel'' from the verb stem and adding a different ending. Note that irregular verbs have stem vowels as regular verbs. For example, '''ésshe''' is an irregular verb, but appears as an -he verb.
{|
 
| || Masc. || || Fem.
====First Conjugation Verbs====
|-
Elbic verb conjugations for -ha verbs are conveniently arranged on this table:
! || Sing. || Plur. || Sing. || Plur.
 
{| border=1
| || Present Indicative || Simple Past Indicative || Imperfect Indicative || Future Indicative || Present Subjunctive || Imperfect Subjunctive || Present Conditional
|-
|-
| 1Ps  || -o || -i || -avo || -*ro || -e || -assa || -*ri
| '''Nom.''' || ell || ells || ella || ellas
|-
|-
| 2Ps  || -ai || -aste || -avai || -*rai || -ei || -assai || -*rei
| '''Gen.''' || siu || lôrru || siu || larru
|-
|-
| 3Ps  || -a || || -ava || -*ra || -e || -assa || -*ri
| '''Dat.''' || lhi || lhis || lhi || lhis
|-
|-
| 1Pp  || -ammo || -amo || -avammo || -*remmo || -emmo || -assammo || -*rimmo
| '''Acc.''' || lu/l' || lus || la/l' || las
|-
|-
| 2Pp  || -atte || -asti || -avatte|| -*ratte || -ette || -assatte || -*ritte
| '''Ref.''' || si || si || si || si
|-
|-
| 3Pp  || -anno || -ano || -avanno || -*ranno || -enno || -assanno || -*rinno
| '''Disj.''' || ellu || ellus || ella || ellas
|}
|}


The *asterisk indicates that the shown ending is added to the entire verb infinitive, not just to the verb stem. So, the full simple conjugation of '''cántha''', ''to sing''.
==Verbal morphology==
Elbic verbs can be classified into five groups; four of them are distinguished by their infinitive endings while the fifth comprises irregular verbs.
 
* First conjugation infinitives end in '''arri''', e.g. '''parlarri''' ''speak''
* Second conjugation infinitives end in '''erri''', e.g. '''vêderri''' ''see''
* Third conjugation infinitives end in '''ri''', e.g. '''priëndri''' ''take''
* Fourth conjugation infinitives end in '''irri''', e.g. '''finirri''' ''finish''
* Irregular verbs' infinitives look like infinitives for one of the other four conjugations
 
There are two important notes about verb conjugation. Some finite endings cause palatalization of the preceding consonant:


{| border=1
{|
| || Present Indicative || Simple Past Indicative || Imperfect Indicative || Future Indicative || Present Subjunctive || Imperfect Subjunctive || Present Conditional
! Normal || Palatalized
|-
| c || x
|-
| ch || c
|-
|-
| 1Ps  || cánto || cánti || cántavo || cánthero || cánte || cántassa || cánthari
| g || gi
|-
|-
| 2Ps  || cántai || cántaste || cántavai || cántharai || cántei || cántassai || cántharei
| gh || g
|-
|-
| 3Ps  || cánta || cántò || cántava || cánthera || cánthare || cántassa || cánthari
| t || ç
|-
|-
| 1Pp  || cántammo || cántamo || cántavammo || cántharemmo || cántemmo || cántassammo || cántharimmo
| d || z
|-
|-
| 2Pp  || cántatte || cántasti || cántavatte|| cántharatte || cántette || cántassatte || cántharitte
| l || lh
|-
|-
| 3Pp  || cántanno || cántano || cántavanno || cántharanno || cántenno || cántassanno || cántharinno
| n || gn
|}
|}


====Second and Third Conjugation Verbs====
Additionally, any verbs, most notably verbs of the third conjugation, whose final stem vowel is short '''e''' or '''o''' will diphthongize when that vowel is stressed to '''ië''' or '''uo'''. Thus, the stem of the third conjugation verb '''priëndri''' is actually *'''prend''', but because the stress falls on the stem vowel, it has diphthongized even in the infinitive.
The conjugation paradigm for -he and -hi verbs is below. If there are two entries in a box, the second is the ending for -hi verbs. A parenthetical -iss- marks third conjugation (-hi) radical-shift verbs.
 
All verbs are conjugated by removing the infinitive ending and adding various suffixes. The conjugation patterns for regular verbs, as well as for the irregular verbs '''esserri''' ''be'' and '''averri''' ''have''. Additionally, it should be noted that many verbs, especially of the second and third conjugations, have irregular preterite stems. For example, '''vêderri''' ''see'' has the preterite stem '''vid''' (e.g. '''vidì''' ''I saw''). The irregular preterite stem is used in both the indicative and the subjunctive.
 
===First conjugation===
The conjugation of first conjugation verbs in '''arri''' is shown below.
 
====Finite forms====
The finite forms of the first conjugation are as follows:


{| border=1
{| border=1
| || Present Indicative || Simple Past Indicative || Imperfect Indicative || Future Indicative || Present Subjunctive || Imperfect Subjunctive || Present Conditional
! || Present Indicative || Preterite Indicative || Imperfect Indicative || Future Indicative || Present Subjunctive || Preterite Subjunctive || Imperative
|-
|-
| 1Ps || -o || -i || -ia || -*ro || -a || -issa || -*ri
| 1 sg. || u || ai || abba || arò || i || assi ||
|-
|-
| 2Ps || -ei || -iste || -iai || -*rai || -ai || -issai || -*rei
| 2 sg. || as || asti || abbas || aràs || is || assis || a
|-
|-
| 3Ps || -e || -io || -ia || -*ra || -a || -issa || -*ri
| 3 sg. || a || ò || abba || arà || i || assi ||
|-
|-
| 1Pp || -emmo/(iss)immo || -imo || -iammo || -*remmo || -ammo || -issammo || -*rimmo
| 1 pl. || ammu || ammu || ábbamu || aremmu || immu || ássimu || immu
|-
|-
| 2Pp || -ette/(iss)itte || -isti || -iatte|| -*ratte || -atte || -issatte || -*ritte
| 2 pl. || atti || astis || ábbati || aretti || itti || ássiti || atti
|-
| 3 pl. || an || arrun || abban || aràn || in || assin ||
|}
 
====Non-finite forms====
The non-finite forms of the first conjugation are as follows:
 
{| border=1
| Infinitive || '''arri'''
|-  
| Past part. || '''attu'''
|-
|-
| 3Pp  || -(iss)enno || -ino || -ianno || -*ranno || -anno || -issanno || -*rinno
| Present part. || '''anti'''
|}
|}


And the full conjugation of '''scrivhi''', a regular -hi verb.
====Sample conjugation====
The finite conjugation of the verb '''cantarri''' ''sing'':


{| border=1
{| border=1
| || Present Indicative || Simple Past Indicative || Imperfect Indicative || Future Indicative || Present Subjunctive || Imperfect Subjunctive || Present Conditional
! || Present Indicative || Preterite Indicative || Imperfect Indicative || Future Indicative || Present Subjunctive || Preterite Subjunctive || Imperative
|-
|-
| 1Ps || scrivo || scrivi || scrivia || scrivhiro || scriva || scrivissa || scrivhiri
| 1 sg. || cantu || cantai || cantabba || cantarò || canti || cantassi ||
|-
|-
| 2Ps || scrivei || scriviste || scriviai || scrivhirai || scrivai || scrivissai || scrivhirei
| 2 sg. || cantas || cantasti || cantabbas || cantaràs || cantis || cantassis || canta
|-
|-
| 3Ps || scrive || scrivio || scrivia || scrivhira || scriva || scrivissa || scrivhiri
| 3 sg. || canta || cantò || cantabba || cantarà || canti || cantassi ||
|-
|-
| 1Pp || scrivimmo || scriviimo || scriviammo || scrivhiremmo || scrivammo || scrivissammo || scrivhirimmo
| 1 pl. || cantammu || cantammu || cantábbamu || cantaremmu || cantimmu || cantássimu || cantimmu
|-
|-
| 2Pp || scrivitte || scrivisti || scriviatte|| scrivhiratte || scrivatte || scrivissatte || scrivhiritte
| 2 pl. || cantatti || cantastis || cantábbati || cantaretti || cantitti || cantássiti || cantatti
|-
|-
| 3Pp  || scrivenno || scrivino || scrivianno || scrivhiranno || scrivanno || scrivissanno || scrivhirinno
| 3 pl. || cantan || cantarrun || cantabban || cantaràn || cantin || cantassin ||
|}
|}


Elbic's radical-changing verbs developed from Latin fourth conjugation verbs, and the specific changes applied come from Elbic mixing with French. Here is the conjugation of '''sentendrhi''', the verb for ''to hear''.
And the non-finite forms:


{| border=1
{| border=1
| || Present Indicative || Simple Past Indicative || Imperfect Indicative || Future Indicative || Present Subjunctive || Imperfect Subjunctive || Present Conditional
| Infinitive || '''cantarri'''
|-
|-
| 1Ps  || sentendro || sentendri || sentendria || sentendrhiro || sentendra || sentendrissa || sentendrhiri
| Past part. || '''cantattu'''
|-
|-
| 2Ps  || sentendrei || sentendriste || sentendriai || sentendrhirai || sentendrai || sentendrissai || sentendrhirei
| Present part. || '''cantanti'''
|-
| 3Ps  || sentendre || sentendrio || sentendria || sentendrhira || sentendra || sentendrissa || sentendrhiri
|-
| 1Pp  || sentendrissimmo || sentendrimo || sentendriammo || sentendrhiremmo || sentendrammo || sentendrissammo || sentendrhirimmo
|-
| 2Pp  || sentendrissitte || sentendristi || sentendriatte|| sentendrhiratte || sentendratte || sentendrissatte || sentendrhiritte
|-
| 3Pp  || sentendrissenno || sentendrino || sentendrianno || sentendrhiranno || sentendranno || sentendrissanno || sentendrhirinno
|}
|}


====Irregular Verbs====
===Second conjugation===
Elbic has many irregular verbs. Most belong to the second conjugation. Two of the most important are '''ésshe''' and '''avhe'''. '''ésshe''' means "to be", and '''avhe''' "to have". '''Avhe''' also is "to have" in the auxiliary sense, e.g. "I have done this before". '''Ésshe''' is conjugated as follows:
The conjugation of second conjugation verbs in '''erri''' is shown below:
 
====Finite forms====
The finite forms of the second conjugation are as follows:


{| border=1
{| border=1
| || Present Indicative || Simple Past Indicative || Imperfect Indicative || Future Indicative || Present Subjunctive || Imperfect Subjunctive || Present Conditional
! || Present Indicative || Preterite Indicative || Imperfect Indicative || Future Indicative || Present Subjunctive || Preterite Subjunctive || Imperative
|-
|-
| 1Ps || sonno || fui || ero || shero || sea || fuissa || srhi
| 1 sg. || *u || ì || ebba || erò || *a || essi ||
|-
|-
| 2Ps || sei || fuiste || erai || sherai || seai || fuissai || srhei
| 2 sg. || es || isti || ebbas || eràs || *as || essis || i
|-
|-
| 3Ps || é || fuo || era || shera || sea || fuissa || srhi
| 3 sg. || i || ò || ebba || erà || *a || essi ||
|-
|-
| 1Pp || sammo || fuimo || erammo || sheremmo || seammo || fuissammo || srhimmo
| 1 pl. || emmu || immu || ébbamu || eremmu || *ammu || éssimu || *ammu
|-
|-
| 2Pp || satte || fuisti || eratte|| sheratte || seatte || fuissatte || srhitte
| 2 pl. || etti || istis || ébbati || eretti || *atti || éssiti || etti
|-
|-
| 3Pp  || sanno || fuino || eranno || sheranno || seanno || fuissanno || srhinno
| 3 pl. || *un || *errun || ebban || eràn || *an || essin ||
|}
|}


And here is the conjugation of '''avhe''':
====Non-finite forms====
The non-finite forms of the second conjugation are as follows:


{| border=1
{| border=1
| || Present Indicative || Simple Past Indicative || Imperfect Indicative || Future Indicative || Present Subjunctive || Imperfect Subjunctive || Present Conditional
| Infinitive || '''erri'''
|-
| 1Ps  || ho || hi || avevo || avrho || he || hissa || avrhi
|-
| 2Ps  || hai || histe || avevai || avrhai || hei || hissai || avrhei
|-
| 3Ps  || ha || hio || aveva || avrha || he || hissa || avrhi
|-
| 1Pp  || hammo || himo || avevammo || avrhemmo || hemmo || hissammo || avrhimmo
|-
|-
| 2Pp  || hatte || histi || avevatte|| avrhatte || hette || hissatte || avrhitte
| Past part. || '''ittu'''
|-
|-
| 3Pp  || hanno || hino || avevanno || avrhanno || henno || hissanno || avrhinno
| Present part. || '''enti'''
|}
|}


Finally, the conjugationn of '''andha''', "to go".
====Sample conjugation====
The finite conjugation of '''vêderri''' ''see'':


{| border=1
{| border=1
| || Present Indicative || Simple Past Indicative || Imperfect Indicative || Future Indicative || Present Subjunctive || Imperfect Subjunctive || Present Conditional
! || Present Indicative || Preterite Indicative || Imperfect Indicative || Future Indicative || Present Subjunctive || Preterite Subjunctive || Imperative
|-
|-
| 1Ps || vo || fui || ivo || vharo || ve || fuissa || vrhi
| 1 sg. || vêzu || vidì || vêdebba || vêderò || vêza || videssi ||
|-
|-
| 2Ps || vai || fuiste || ivai || vharai || vei || fuissai || vrhei
| 2 sg. || vêdes || vidisti || vêdebbas || vêderàs || vêzas || videssis || vêdi
|-
|-
| 3Ps || va || fuo || iva || vhara || ve || fuissa || vhri
| 3 sg. || vêdi || vidò || vêdebba || vêderà || vêza || videssi ||
|-
|-
| 1Pp || andammo || fuimo || ivammo || vharemmo || vemmo || fuissammo || vrhimmo
| 1 pl. || vêdemmu || vidimmu || vêdébbamu || vêderemmu || vêzammu || vidéssimu || vêzammu
|-
|-
| 2Pp || andatte || fuisti || ivatte|| vharatte || vette || fuissatte || vrhitte
| 2 pl. || vêdetti || vidistis || vêdébbati || vêderetti || vêzatti || vidéssiti || vêdetti
|-
|-
| 3Pp  || vanno || fuino || ivanno || vharanno || venno || fuissanno || vrhinno
| 3 pl. || vêzun || vizerrun || vêdebban || vêderàn || vêzan || videssin ||
|}
|}


==Verb Conjugation: Compound Tenses==
And the non-finite forms; note the irregular past participle:
Elbic compound tenses are formed by combining a conjugated form of one verb and one of the participles of another. Most are formed with '''avhe''', but the passive and progressive tenses are formed with '''ésshe''' and the periphrastic future is formed with '''andha'''.


===Forming the Participles===
{| border=1
Elbic verbs have three participles. The Latin inflected passive has in Elbic become a passive participle. The Latin past and present participles are retained as well. To form any participle, add certain endings to the end of the '''full infinitive''' of a verb. These endings are:
| Infinitive || '''vêderri'''
|-
| Past part. || '''vistu'''
|-
| Present part. || '''vêdenti'''
|}


* Passive Participle: '''-tto'''
===Third conjugation===
* Perfect Participle: '''-tte'''
The conjugation of third conjugation verbs in '''ri'''.
* Present Participle: '''-nte'''


===Compound Tenses with Avhe===
====Finite forms====
The tenses formed with '''avhe''' are the perfect tenses. They are formed by placing the various tenses of '''avhe''' before the perfect participle. The various tenses are:
The finite forms of the third conjugation are as follows:


* '''Perfect''': present '''avhe'''+perfect participle ('''ho fazhetto''': I have done)
{| border=1
* '''Pluperfect''': imperfect '''avhe'''+perfect participle ('''hia fazhetto''': I had done)
! || Present Indicative || Preterite Indicative || Imperfect Indicative || Future Indicative || Present Subjunctive || Preterite Subjunctive || Imperative
* '''Remote Pluperfect''': simple past '''avhe'''+perfect participle ('''hi fazhetto''': I had done)
|-
* '''Future Perfect''': future '''avhe'''+perfect participle ('''avrho fazhetto''': I will have done)
| 1 sg.  || u || ì || *ebba || rò || a || essi || —
* '''Conditional Perfect: conditional '''avhe'''+perfect participle ('''avrhi fazhetto''': I would have done)
|-
| 2 sg.  || is || isti || *ebbas || ràs || as || essis || i
|-
| 3 sg.  || i || ò || *ebba || rà || a || essi || —
|-
| 1 pl.  || emmu || immu || *ébbamu || remmu || ammu || éssimu || ammu
|-
| 2 pl.  || etti || istis || *ébbati || retti || atti || éssiti || etti
|-
| 3 pl. || un || *errun || *ebban || ràn || an || essin || —
|}


===Compound Tenses with Ésshe===
====Non-finite forms====
The "tenses" formed with '''ésshe''' are all of the passive voice tenses and the progressive tenses. The passive voice tenses are formed quite simply. The generic passive voice is the '''ésshe'''+the passive participle of a verb.
The non-finite forms of the second conjugation are as follows:


* '''É disshitto chè...''': it is said that...
{| border=1
| Infinitive || '''ri'''
|-
| Past part. || '''ittu'''
|-
| Present part. || *'''enti'''
|}


Note, however, that the passive voice may also be formed in an impersonal manner, using the pronoun '''''', ''one''. We'll talk more about this later. There are also two progressive tenses, the present and imperfect progressives. They are formed simply: place the appropriate form of '''ésshe''' before the present participle of the verb.
====Sample conjugation====
The finite conjugation of '''piërdri''' ''lose'' (stem '''perd'''):


* '''Sonno disshinte chè...''': I am saying that...
{| border=1
* '''Erai disshinte chè...''': you were saying that...
! || Present Indicative || Preterite Indicative || Imperfect Indicative || Future Indicative || Present Subjunctive || Preterite Subjunctive || Imperative
|-
| 1 sg. || piërdu || perdì || perzebba || perdrò || piërda || perdessi || —
|-
| 2 sg. || piërdis || perdisti || perzebbas || perdràs || piërdas || perdessis || piërdi
|-
| 3 sg. || piërdi || perdò || perzebba || perdrà || piërda || perdessi || —
|-
| 1 pl. || perdemmu || perdimmu || perzébbamu || perdremmu || perdammu || perdéssimu || perdammu
|-
| 2 pl. || perdetti || perdistis || perzébbati || perdretti || perdatti || perdéssiti || perdetti
|-
| 3 pl. || piërdun || perzerrun || perzebban || perdràn || piërdan || perdessin || —
|}


===Compound Tenses with Andha===
And the non-finite forms:
'''Andha''' is used in the construction of a periphrastic future tense. To form this tense, place an appropriately conjugated form of '''andha''' before the present participle of the verb.


* '''Vo disshinte chè...''': I'm going to say that...
{| border=1
* '''Fuiste disshinte chè...''': you were going to say that...
| Infinitive || '''piërdri'''
|-
| Past part. || '''perdittu'''
|-
| Present part. || '''perzenti'''
|}


==Verbal Morphology: Imperatives==
===Fourth conjugation===
The imperative is used to give commands. There are a number imperatives in Elbic. Firstly, the second person singular, covering the informal '''tu'''. Secondly, the first person plural, covering such constructions as ''let us go'', and agreeing with the pronoun '''noi'''. Finally, the second person plural, covering '''voi''', whether used as a singular or plural pronoun. The imperative forms differ depending on whether the command is affirmative (''do that'') or negative (''don't do that''). In many cases, object pronouns are affixed as clitics to the imperative verbs. In each entry, there is a note of how this is done. Note, finally, that there are a number of irregular imperatives. Where these exist, they will be noted.
The conjugation of fourth conjugation verbs in '''irri'''.


* The second person singular affirmative ending is the same as the third person singular present indicative ending. When clitic pronouns are attached to this imperative, place an -'''h'''- before the penultimate vowel of the word: '''parla''' ''speak''>'''pharlame''' ''speak to me''. If the imperative begins with a vowel or with '''h''', the final vowel is instead removed from the clitic pronoun and precedes the verb: '''aprende''' ''learn''>'''l'aprende''' ''learn it''.
====Finite forms====
* The second person singular negative ending is the same as the second person singular present subjunctive ending. When clitic pronouns are attached to this imperative, remove the final -'''i''' from it: '''non parlei''' ''don't speak''>'''non parlemi'''>''don't speak to me''. If the imperative begins with a vowel or with '''h''', the final vowel is instead removed from the clitic pronoun and it precedes the verb: '''non aprendai''' ''don't learn''>'''non l'aprendai''' ''don't learn it''.
The finite forms of the fourth conjugation are as follows:
* The first person plural affirmative ending is the same as the first person plural present indicative ending. There are no changes when clitic pronouns are attached to this imperative: '''parlamo''' ''let's speak''>'''parlamole''' ''let's speak to him''. If the imperative begins with a vowel or with '''h''', the final vowel is instead removed from the clitic pronoun and precedes the verb: '''aprendemo''' ''let's learn''>'''l'aprendemo''' ''let's learn it''.
* The first person plural negative ending is the same as the first person plural present subjunctive ending. There are no changes when clitic pronouns are attached to this imperative: '''non parlemo''' ''let's not speak''>'''non parlemole''' ''let's not speak to him''. If the imperative begins with a vowel or with '''h''', the final vowel is instead removed from the clitic pronoun and precedes the verb: '''non aprendammo''' ''let's not learn''>'''non l'aprendammo''' ''let's not learn it''.
* The second person plural/formal affirmative ending is the same as the second person plural present subjunctive ending. There are no changes when clitic pronouns are attached to this imperative: '''parlette''' ''speak''>'''parlettele''' ''speak to him''. If the imperative begins with a vowel or with '''h''', the final vowel is instead removed from the clitic pronoun and precedes the verb: '''aprendatte''' ''learn''>'''l'aprendatte''' ''learn it''.
* The second person plural/formal negative ending is the same as the second person plural present indicative ending. There are no changes when clitic pronouns are attached to this imperative: '''non parlatte''' ''don't speak''>'''non parlattele''' ''don't speak to him''. If the imperative begins with a vowel or with '''h''', the final vowel is instead removed from the clitic pronoun and precedes the verb: '''non aprendette''' ''don't learn''>'''non l'aprendette''' ''don't learn it''.


==Tense Clarification: Simple Past==
{| border=1
The simple past is in many ways the most complicated of Elbic's many tenses. This section will attempt to clarify it.
! || Present Indicative || Preterite Indicative || Imperfect Indicative || Future Indicative || Present Subjunctive || Preterite Subjunctive || Imperative
|-
| 1 sg.  || *u || ì || *ebba || irò || *a || essi || —
|-
| 2 sg.  || is || isti || *ebbas || iràs || *as || essis || i
|-
| 3 sg.  || i || ò || *ebba || irà || *a || essi || —
|-
| 1 pl.  || immu || immu || *ébbamu || iremmu || *ammu || éssimu || *ammu
|-
| 2 pl. || itti || istis || *ébbati || iretti || *atti || éssiti || itti
|-
| 3 pl. || *un || *errun || *ebban || iràn || *an || essin || —
|}


===Simple Past vs. Imperfect===
====Non-finite forms====
On the surface, these two tenses are similar. Both describe past events. However, there are many differences. The simple past is used to...
The non-finite forms of the fourth conjugation are as follows:


* ...describe events that occurred at a specific past time, with definite beginnings and ends.
{| border=1
* ...describe events that occurred only once.
| Infinitive || '''irri'''
* ...describe events in a story.
|-
| Past part. || '''ittu'''
|-
| Present part. || *'''enti'''
|}


The imperfect is used to...
====Sample conjugation====
The finite conjugation of '''finirri''' ''finish'':


* ...describe events that occurred at an indefinite time, or over a long, undefined period.
{| border=1
* ...describe events that occurred habitually.
! || Present Indicative || Preterite Indicative || Imperfect Indicative || Future Indicative || Present Subjunctive || Preterite Subjunctive || Imperative
* ...form the imperfect progressive.
|-
| 1 sg. || fignu || finì || fignebba || finirò || figna || finessi || —
|-
| 2 sg. || finis || finisti || fignebbas || finiràs || fignas || finessis || fini
|-
| 3 sg. || fini || finò || fignebba || finirà || figna || finessi || —
|-
| 1 pl. || finimmu || finimmu || fignébbamu || finiremmu || fignammu || finéssimu || fignammu
|-
| 2 pl. || finitti || finistis || fignébbati || finiretti || fignatti || finéssiti || finitti
|-
| 3 pl. || fignun || fignerrun || fignebban || finiràn || fignan || finessin || —
|}


===Simple Past vs. Perfect===
And the non-finite forms:
The simple past is even closer to the perfect. In fact, the simple past is often used in place of the perfect. The perfect typically occurs once every paragraph or so and is from then on replaced with the simple past. Usually the perfect is not used more than once or twice every few minutes in colloquial speech, though the simple past is in contrast almost never used, replaced exclusively by the perfect, in formal discussions.


===Simple Past vs. Pluperfects===
{| border=1
The simple past and the pluperfects seem similar, but there is an important difference: the pluperfects is used in only one place: when describing events that occurred at a specific time, with definite beginnings and ends (or only occurring once), ''before other events''. The pluperfects are only used where English would use ''had done something'' and similar constructions. The remote pluperfect is especially select: it can only be used when something pluperfect occurred at a distant past time (usually more than a year before the speaking).
| Infinitive || '''finirri'''
|-
| Past part. || '''finittu'''
|-
| Present part. || '''fignenti'''
|}


[[Category:A posteriori conlangs]][[Category:Conlangs]][[Category:Ill Bethisad]][[Category:Indo-European conlangs]][[Category:Romance conlangs]]
[[Category:A posteriori conlangs]]
[[Category:Ill Bethisad]]
[[Category:Romance conlangs]]
[[Category:Elbic]]
[[Category: Conlangs]]

Latest revision as of 15:37, 30 October 2012


Élbica
Pronounced: 'ɛlbika
Timeline and Universe: Ill Bethisad
Species: Human
Spoken: Elba
Total speakers: 30,000
Writing system: Latin
Genealogy: Indo-European

 Italic
  Romance
   South-Central Romance
    Central-Southern Italian

     Elbic
Typology
Morphological type: Inflecting
Morphosyntactic alignment: Nominative-Accusative
Basic word order: SVO
Credits
Creator: Sectori
Created: July, 2009

Nota bene: Elbic has undergone some changes since this page was last updated, especially to nominal morphology but also limited changes to verbal morphology. I'm not sure if/when this page will be up-to-date.

Elbic is the language of the Principality of Elba, an island off the coast of Tuscany. It is a Central and Southern Italian language, although it has been relatively isolated, related to Neapolitan and Tuscan Italian.

Phonology

Elbic phonology is fairly ordinary for a Romance language.

Vowels

Elbic has a straightforward seven-vowel system inherited from Vulgar Latin. It also has three diphthongs, two falling and one rising: /jɛ/, /wɔ/, and /ai/.

Vowels
Front Near-front Central Near-back Back
High i u
Near-high
High-mid ê ô
Mid e o
Low-mid
Near-low
Low a

Orthographically, it should be noted that e and o occasionally represent /e/ and /o/; as a general rule, only the first vowel in a word that would receive a circumflex does. The diphthong /jɛ/ is represented orthographically as , the diphthong /wɔ/ as uo, and the diphthong /ai/ as ai.

Consonants

Elbic has either 22 or 24 consonants, depending on whether the semivowels /w/ and /j/ are treated as allophonic realizations of /i/ and /u/ or as consonants in their own right.

Consonants
Bilabial Labiod. Dental Alveolar Post-alv. Palatal Velar Labiovelar
Nasal m n gn
Plosive p b t d c(h) g(h) qu gu
Fricative f v s x g(i)
Affricate ç z c(i)
Approximants (u) (i)
Trill r
Lateral Approximant l lh

Orthographically, ch and gh are used for /k/ and /g/ before front vowels, c and g before back vowels. c and g are used for /tʃ/ and /ʒ/ before front vowels, ci and gi before back vowels. All consonants can be geminated, in which case they are written twice, with the following exceptions:

  • geminated lh is written llh
  • geminated ç is written
  • geminated qu is written cqu
  • geminated gn is written ggn

Written Elbic utilizes four diacritics:

  • the circumflex is used to mark the vowels /e/ and /o/ (written ê and ô)
  • the diaeresis is used to mark the diphthong /jɛ/ (written )
  • the acute accent is used to mark irregular stress on a non-final syllable
  • the grave accent is used to mark irregular stress on a final syllable

Note that an acute or grave takes precedence over the diaeresis (e.g. Miéxxicu Mexico).

Stress

To place the stress of a word, follow these rules in the order they are presented here.

  • When determining the stress of a word, always initially place it on the final syllable.
  • If the final sound is a vowel, stress moves back one syllable.
  • If anywhere in the word there is a vowel with an acute or grave, move the stress to the accented vowel.
  • In monosyllabic words, the vowel is generally treated as if it were unstressed.

Thus, Miéxxicu, the Elbic name for Mexico, is /'mjɛʃ:iku/, Êlba, the Elbic name for Elba, is /'elba/, the definite article la is /la/, and nu napoletannu a Neapolitan is /nu napolɛ'tan:u/.

Nominal morphology

Nouns in Elbic belong to one of two genders, masculine or feminine. The vast majority of nouns end in a vowel, and all nouns form their plurals by suffixing s:

  • duomnu (lord) —> duomnus
  • acqua (water) —> acquas
  • princêppi (prince) —> princêppis
  • parti (part, section) —> partis
  • mannu (hand) —> mannus
  • zi (day) —> zis

Generally speaking, nouns that end in u are masculine and nouns that end in a are feminine (although this is not always so: mannu is feminine, for example). Nouns ending in other vowels might belong to either gender, although there are some observable patterns. For example,

  • nouns ending in ionni (stazionni "station", e.g.) are feminine
  • nouns ending in atti (universitatti "university", e.g.) are feminine
  • nouns ending in orri (amorri "love", e.g.) are masculine

Articles

Elbic has two types of articles, definite and indefinite, each of which has five forms. The forms of the definite article are as follows:

Masc. Fem. Before vowel
Sing. lu la l'
Plur. lus las *

Plural nouns that begin with a vowel use the normal plural forms. For example, lu duomnu (the lord), las mannus (the hands), l'universitatti (the university), lus amorris (the loves).

The forms of the indefinite article are as follows:

Masc. Fem. Before vowel
Sing. nu na n'
Plur. nus nas *

Plural nouns that begin with a vowel use the normal plural forms. The plural indefinite article is equivalent to English "some" or French "des". The definite article contracts with the prepositions a (at, to, towards), da (from, of), in (in, at, on), and su (around, on).

Contraction with a

a Masc. Fem. Before vowel
Sing. allu alla all'
Plur. allus allas *

Contraction with da

da Masc. Fem. Before vowel
Sing. dallu dalla dall'
Plur. dallus dallas *

Contraction with in

in Masc. Fem. Before vowel
Sing. gnellu gnella gnell'
Plur. gnellus gnellas *

Contraction with su

a Masc. Fem. Before vowel
Sing. sullu sulla sull'
Plur. sullus sullas *

Pronominal morphology

Elbic pronouns, like nouns, distinguish two numbers and between two and five cases. In the third person, there is a masculine-feminine distinction, as well. The cases shown by the pronouns are the following: for the first and second person pronouns, nominative, genitive, and oblique-reflexive cases are distinguished. For the impersonal pronoun si, the nominative and the oblique-reflexive are identical. For the third person pronouns, nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, and reflexive are distinguished, and there exist special disjunctive forms, as well.

First person

The first person pronoun declines as follows:

Sing. Plur.
Nom. giu nus
Gen. miu nuostru
O.-R. mi nui

Second person

The second person pronoun declines as follows:

Sing. Plur.
Nom. tu vus
Gen. tiu vuostru
O.-R. ti vui

Third person

The third person pronoun declines as follows:

Masc. Fem.
Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur.
Nom. ell ells ella ellas
Gen. siu lôrru siu larru
Dat. lhi lhis lhi lhis
Acc. lu/l' lus la/l' las
Ref. si si si si
Disj. ellu ellus ella ellas

Verbal morphology

Elbic verbs can be classified into five groups; four of them are distinguished by their infinitive endings while the fifth comprises irregular verbs.

  • First conjugation infinitives end in arri, e.g. parlarri speak
  • Second conjugation infinitives end in erri, e.g. vêderri see
  • Third conjugation infinitives end in ri, e.g. priëndri take
  • Fourth conjugation infinitives end in irri, e.g. finirri finish
  • Irregular verbs' infinitives look like infinitives for one of the other four conjugations

There are two important notes about verb conjugation. Some finite endings cause palatalization of the preceding consonant:

Normal Palatalized
c x
ch c
g gi
gh g
t ç
d z
l lh
n gn

Additionally, any verbs, most notably verbs of the third conjugation, whose final stem vowel is short e or o will diphthongize when that vowel is stressed to or uo. Thus, the stem of the third conjugation verb priëndri is actually *prend, but because the stress falls on the stem vowel, it has diphthongized even in the infinitive.

All verbs are conjugated by removing the infinitive ending and adding various suffixes. The conjugation patterns for regular verbs, as well as for the irregular verbs esserri be and averri have. Additionally, it should be noted that many verbs, especially of the second and third conjugations, have irregular preterite stems. For example, vêderri see has the preterite stem vid (e.g. vidì I saw). The irregular preterite stem is used in both the indicative and the subjunctive.

First conjugation

The conjugation of first conjugation verbs in arri is shown below.

Finite forms

The finite forms of the first conjugation are as follows:

Present Indicative Preterite Indicative Imperfect Indicative Future Indicative Present Subjunctive Preterite Subjunctive Imperative
1 sg. u ai abba arò i assi
2 sg. as asti abbas aràs is assis a
3 sg. a ò abba arà i assi
1 pl. ammu ammu ábbamu aremmu immu ássimu immu
2 pl. atti astis ábbati aretti itti ássiti atti
3 pl. an arrun abban aràn in assin

Non-finite forms

The non-finite forms of the first conjugation are as follows:

Infinitive arri
Past part. attu
Present part. anti

Sample conjugation

The finite conjugation of the verb cantarri sing:

Present Indicative Preterite Indicative Imperfect Indicative Future Indicative Present Subjunctive Preterite Subjunctive Imperative
1 sg. cantu cantai cantabba cantarò canti cantassi
2 sg. cantas cantasti cantabbas cantaràs cantis cantassis canta
3 sg. canta cantò cantabba cantarà canti cantassi
1 pl. cantammu cantammu cantábbamu cantaremmu cantimmu cantássimu cantimmu
2 pl. cantatti cantastis cantábbati cantaretti cantitti cantássiti cantatti
3 pl. cantan cantarrun cantabban cantaràn cantin cantassin

And the non-finite forms:

Infinitive cantarri
Past part. cantattu
Present part. cantanti

Second conjugation

The conjugation of second conjugation verbs in erri is shown below:

Finite forms

The finite forms of the second conjugation are as follows:

Present Indicative Preterite Indicative Imperfect Indicative Future Indicative Present Subjunctive Preterite Subjunctive Imperative
1 sg. *u ì ebba erò *a essi
2 sg. es isti ebbas eràs *as essis i
3 sg. i ò ebba erà *a essi
1 pl. emmu immu ébbamu eremmu *ammu éssimu *ammu
2 pl. etti istis ébbati eretti *atti éssiti etti
3 pl. *un *errun ebban eràn *an essin

Non-finite forms

The non-finite forms of the second conjugation are as follows:

Infinitive erri
Past part. ittu
Present part. enti

Sample conjugation

The finite conjugation of vêderri see:

Present Indicative Preterite Indicative Imperfect Indicative Future Indicative Present Subjunctive Preterite Subjunctive Imperative
1 sg. vêzu vidì vêdebba vêderò vêza videssi
2 sg. vêdes vidisti vêdebbas vêderàs vêzas videssis vêdi
3 sg. vêdi vidò vêdebba vêderà vêza videssi
1 pl. vêdemmu vidimmu vêdébbamu vêderemmu vêzammu vidéssimu vêzammu
2 pl. vêdetti vidistis vêdébbati vêderetti vêzatti vidéssiti vêdetti
3 pl. vêzun vizerrun vêdebban vêderàn vêzan videssin

And the non-finite forms; note the irregular past participle:

Infinitive vêderri
Past part. vistu
Present part. vêdenti

Third conjugation

The conjugation of third conjugation verbs in ri.

Finite forms

The finite forms of the third conjugation are as follows:

Present Indicative Preterite Indicative Imperfect Indicative Future Indicative Present Subjunctive Preterite Subjunctive Imperative
1 sg. u ì *ebba a essi
2 sg. is isti *ebbas ràs as essis i
3 sg. i ò *ebba a essi
1 pl. emmu immu *ébbamu remmu ammu éssimu ammu
2 pl. etti istis *ébbati retti atti éssiti etti
3 pl. un *errun *ebban ràn an essin

Non-finite forms

The non-finite forms of the second conjugation are as follows:

Infinitive ri
Past part. ittu
Present part. *enti

Sample conjugation

The finite conjugation of piërdri lose (stem perd):

Present Indicative Preterite Indicative Imperfect Indicative Future Indicative Present Subjunctive Preterite Subjunctive Imperative
1 sg. piërdu perdì perzebba perdrò piërda perdessi
2 sg. piërdis perdisti perzebbas perdràs piërdas perdessis piërdi
3 sg. piërdi perdò perzebba perdrà piërda perdessi
1 pl. perdemmu perdimmu perzébbamu perdremmu perdammu perdéssimu perdammu
2 pl. perdetti perdistis perzébbati perdretti perdatti perdéssiti perdetti
3 pl. piërdun perzerrun perzebban perdràn piërdan perdessin

And the non-finite forms:

Infinitive piërdri
Past part. perdittu
Present part. perzenti

Fourth conjugation

The conjugation of fourth conjugation verbs in irri.

Finite forms

The finite forms of the fourth conjugation are as follows:

Present Indicative Preterite Indicative Imperfect Indicative Future Indicative Present Subjunctive Preterite Subjunctive Imperative
1 sg. *u ì *ebba irò *a essi
2 sg. is isti *ebbas iràs *as essis i
3 sg. i ò *ebba irà *a essi
1 pl. immu immu *ébbamu iremmu *ammu éssimu *ammu
2 pl. itti istis *ébbati iretti *atti éssiti itti
3 pl. *un *errun *ebban iràn *an essin

Non-finite forms

The non-finite forms of the fourth conjugation are as follows:

Infinitive irri
Past part. ittu
Present part. *enti

Sample conjugation

The finite conjugation of finirri finish:

Present Indicative Preterite Indicative Imperfect Indicative Future Indicative Present Subjunctive Preterite Subjunctive Imperative
1 sg. fignu finì fignebba finirò figna finessi
2 sg. finis finisti fignebbas finiràs fignas finessis fini
3 sg. fini finò fignebba finirà figna finessi
1 pl. finimmu finimmu fignébbamu finiremmu fignammu finéssimu fignammu
2 pl. finitti finistis fignébbati finiretti fignatti finéssiti finitti
3 pl. fignun fignerrun fignebban finiràn fignan finessin

And the non-finite forms:

Infinitive finirri
Past part. finittu
Present part. fignenti