Elbic
Élbica | |
---|---|
Pronounced: | 'ɛlbika |
Timeline and Universe: | Ill Bethisad |
Species: | Human |
Spoken: | Elba |
Total speakers: | 30,000 |
Writing system: | Latin |
Genealogy: | Indo-European Italic |
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 ië, 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 tç
- 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 ië)
- 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 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.
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 | rò | a | essi | — |
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 | — |
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 |