Monzo

Mònzo is an Italo-Carune language spoken in Monze, Carune. It is similar to Carune, but incorporates grave accents as stress markers because of the loss of some final letters.

Mònzo
Pronounced:	/m"Onts)o/
Timeline and Universe:	Alternate Earth, modern era
Species:	Human
Spoken:	Carune
Total speakers:	5 million
Writing system:	Roman
Genealogy:	Indo-European  Italic   Romance    Italo-Western     Ibero-Italic      Italo-Carune       Eastern Carune        Monzo
Typology
Morphological type:	Inflecting
Morphosyntactic alignment:	Fusional
Basic word order:	SVO
Credits
Creator:	Sectori
Created:	December 2005

Phonology/Orthography

Monzo has 29 phonemes.

• Plosives: /p t k b d g/ < p t ch b d g >
• Fricatives: /f h s v/ < f h s v >
• Affricates: /ts) tS)/ < z c >
• Approximants: /l r\ L/ < l r lh >
• Nasals: /m n J/ < m n nh >
• Unstressed Vowels: /a e i o u/ < a e i o u >
• Stressed Vowels: /"A "E "I "O "U/ < à è ì ò ù >
• Labialized Plosives: /kw/ < qu >
• In diphthongs, /i/ becomes /j/ and /u/ becomes /w/
• Before /a o u/ <c> is /k/.

Syntax and Stress

Stress falls on the penultimate syllable, unless the word ends in a vowel, in which case it lands on the ultimate syllable:

• Mònzo: /m"Onts)o/
• Parlàr: /parl"Ar\/
• Che: /k"e/
• Grazie: /grats)j"e/

Subject Pronouns

Mònzo has nine subject pronouns. It distinguishes two singular forms, one formal and one informal.

• Eo: I
• Tu: you (informal)
• Lho: he
• Lha: she
• Vùzu: you (formal)
• Nòze: we
• Vòze: you (plural)
• Lhi: they (masculine)
• Lhe: they (feminine)

Verbal Morphology: Indicative Mood Simple Tenses

There are four types of verbs: -a stem, -e stem, -i stem, and irregulars. The infinitive forms are -àr, -èr, -ìr, and -e respectively. To conjugate, remove them and add the correct endings.

Present Indicative Conjugation

This describes actions that happen in the present. Regular verbs conjugate as follows.

• The eo form ends in -ò.
• The tu form ends in -(stem vowel)s
• The lho, lha, and vùzu forms end in -(stem vowel)
• The nòze form ends in -(stem vowel)mo
• The vòze form ends in -(stem vowel)z
• The lhi and lhe forms end in -(stem vowel)n
• Thus, parlàr conjugates as follows: parlò, parlas, parla, parlamo, parlaz, parlan
• Savèr: savò, saves, save, savemo, savez, saven
• Venìr: venò, venis, veni, venimo, veniz, venin
• The irregular verb pusse (to be able to) conjugates like this: pò, pes, pe, pemo, pez, pen.

Preterit Indicative Conjugation

The preterit describes actions that have happened in the past.

• The eo form ends in -è for -a stem verbs and -ì for -e and -i stem verbs.
• The tu form ends in -ast for -a stem verbs and -ist for -e and -i stem verbs.
• The lho, lha, and vùzu forms end in -u for all types of verbs.
• The nòzo form ends in -àm for -a stem verbs and -ìm for -e and -i stem verbs.
• The vòzo form ends in -àste for -a stem verbs and -ìste for -e and -i stem verbs.
• The lhi and lhe forms end in -àtu and -ìtu for -e and -i stem verbs.
• Parlàr: parlè, parlast, parlu, parlàm, parlàste, parlàtu.
• Savèr: savì, savist, savu, savìm, savìste, savìtu
• Venìr: venì, venist, venu, venìm, venìste, venìtu
• Pusse: puì, puist, peu, puìm, puìste, puìtu

Future Indicative Conjugation

The future tense describes actions that have yet to occur.

• The eo ending is -e.
• The tu ending is -as.
• The lho, lha, and vùzu ending is -i.
• The nòzo ending is -emo
• The vòzo ending is -az.
• The lhi and lhe ending is -in
• Parlàr: parlàre, parlàras, parlàri, parlàremo, parlàraz, parlàrin
• Savèr: savère, savèras, savèri, savèrimo, savèraz, savèrin
• Venìr: venìre, venìras, venìri, venìremo, venìraz, venìrin
• Pusse: puère, puèras, puèri, puèremo, puèraz, puèrin

Imperfect Indicative Conjugation

The imperfect tense describes an action that occurred at an unspecified past time. In -a stem verbs, it is formed by removing the final -r, adding -v-, and then adding the normal present tense ending. If this would change the stress placement, the stress stays with the infinitive ending. In -e and -i stem forms it is conjugated as follows:

• The eo form is -ià.
• The tu form is -iàs.
• The lho, lha, and vùzu form ends in -ià.
• The nòzo form ends in -iàmo
• The vòzo form ends in -iàz
• The lhi and lhe form ends in -iàn
• Parlàr: parlàvo, parlàvas, parlàva, parlàvamo, parlàvas, parlàvan
• Savèr: savià, saviàs, savià, saviàmo, saviàz, saviàn
• Venìr: venià, veniàs, venià, veniàmo, veniàz, veniàn
• Pusse: puià, puiàs, puià, puiàmo, puiàz, puiàn

Present Conditional Conjugation

The present conditional describes things that would happen. It conjugates by adding certain endings to the full infinitive of a verb. When the stress of the added ending conflicts with the stress of the infinitive, the stress stays with the added ending.

• The eo form is -ià.
• The tu form is -iàs.
• The lho, lha, and vùzu form is -ià.
• The nòzo form is -iàmo
• The vòzo form is -iàz
• The lhi and lhe form is -iàn
• Parlàr: parlarià, parlariàs, parlarià, parlariàmo, parlariàz, parlariàn.
• Savèr: saverià, saveriàs, saverià, saveriàmo, saveriàz, saveriàn.
• Venìr: venirià, veniriàs, venirià, veniriàmo, veniriàz, veniriàn.
• Pusse: puerià, pueriàs, puerià, pueriàmo, pueriàz, pueriàn.

Nominal Morphology: Gender and Number

In common with other Italo-Carune languages, Mònzo has three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter.

• Masculine nouns end in -o in the singular. To make them plural, change -o to -i. For example: il bambino>lhi bambini (bambino=boy).
• Feminine nouns end in -a in the singular. To make them plural, change -a to -e. For example: al bambina>lhe bambine (bambina=girl).
• Neuter nouns end in -u in the singular. To make them plural, change -u to e. For example: el frasu>lhe frase (frasu=sentence).

Direct Object Pronouns

Direct object pronouns reflect the immediate object of an action: I have the book to him.; She loves me. Mònzo nouns do not reflect the accusative (direct object) case, but pronouns do. The direct object pronouns are as follows.

• Me: me
• Te: you
• Lho: him
• Lha: her
• Lhu: it
• Ne: us
• Ve: you
• Lhi: them (masculine)
• Lhe: them (feminine or neuter)

Indirect Object Pronouns

Indirect object pronouns reflect the indirect object of a sentence: She gave the book to me. Nouns in Mònzo do not reflect the dative (indirect object) case, but pronouns do.

• Me: to/for me
• Te: to/for you
• Lo: to/for him
• La: to/for her
• Lu: to/for it
• Ne: to/for us
• Ve: to/for you
• Li: to/for them (masculine)
• Le: to/for them (feminine or neuter)

Prepositional Object Pronouns

Prepositional object pronouns reflect the object of a preposition: I am going away from her. Nouns in Mònzo do not decline to show the locative/ablative (prepositional object) case, but pronouns do.

• Mi: me
• Ti: you
• Si: him, her, it, them
• Ni: us
• Vi: you

Reflexive Verbs/Pronouns

Reflexive verbs are the reflection of an action done by the speaker to the speaker: She gave the book to herself. There are two ways of dealing with reflexives: conjugate them, or leave them as infinitives. As conjugated verbs, reflexives look like normal verbs, but have a reflexive pronoun tacked onto the beginning.

• Lavèr-si: to wash oneself
• Mi lavò: I wash myself
• Ti laves: you wash yourself
• Si lave: he/she/you washes/wash him/her/yourself
• Ni lavemo: we wash ourselves
• Vi lavez: you wash yourselves
• Si laven: they wash themselves

In their infinitive forms, reflexives look like normal verbs with a reflexive pronoun tacked on at the end.

• Sentìr-si: to feel
• Sentìr-mi: to feel (I)
• Sentìr-ti: to feel (you)
• Sentìr-si: to feel (he, she, it, they)
• Sentìr-ni: to feel (we)
• Sentìr-vi: to feel (you)

The second type of reflexive is always used after a conjugated verb, never in place of one.

Verbal Morphology: Irregular Verbs

You have already learned to conjugate one irregular verb: pusse (to be able to, can). This section will teach you a number of the most common irregular verbs. Irregular verbs end in -e, and typically more specifically in -sse. The most common irregular verbs are as follows.

• esse: to be
• Present Indicative: sò, es, è, somo, soz, son
• Preterite Indicative: fuì, fuist, fuu, fuìm, fuìste, fuìtu
• Future Indicative: sierre, sierras, sierri, sierremo, sierraz, sierrin
• Imperfect Indicative: erò, eras, era, eramo, eraz, eran
• Present Conditional: sierrià, sierriàs, sierrià, sierriàmo, sierriàz, sierriàn
• Present Subjunctive: sa, sas, sa, samo, saz, san
• Imperfect Subjunctive: fuìrra, fuìrras, fuìrra, fuìrramo, fuìrraz, fuìrran

• avesse: to have (auxiliary)
• Present Indicative: hò, has, ha, hamo, haz, han
• Preterite Indicative: hè, hast, hu, hàm, haste, hàtu
• Future Indicative: hàre, hàras, hàri, hàremo, hàraz, hàrin
• Imperfect Indicative: hià, hiàs, hià, hiàmo, hiàz, hiàn
• Present Conditional: harià, hariàs, harià, hariàmo, hariàz, hariàn
• Present Subjunctive: he, hes, he, hemo, hez, hen
• Imperfect Subjunctive: hàrra, hàrras, hàrra, hàrramo, hàrraz, hàrran

• ire: to go
• Present Indicative: vò, vas, va, vamo, vaz, van
• Preterite Indicative: fuì, fuist, fuu, fuìm, fuìste, fuìtu
• Future Indicative: ire, iras, iri, iremo, iraz, irin
• Imperfect Indicative: ià, iàs, ià, iàmo, iàz, iàn
• Present Conditional: irià, iriàs, irià, iriàmo, iriàz, iriàn
• Present Subjunctive: ve, ves, ve, vemo, vez, ven
• Imperfect Subjunctive: fuìrra, fuìrras, fuìrra, fuìrramo, fuìrraz, fuìrran

• disse: to say, tell
• Present Indicative: dicio, dices, dice, dicemo, dicez, dicen
• Preterite Indicative: dehì, dehist, dehu, dehìm, dehìste, dehìtu
• Future Indicative: dehère, dehèras, dehèri, dehèremo, dehèraz, dehèrin
• Imperfect Indicative: dià, diàs, dià, diàmo, diàz, diàn
• Present Conditional: deherià, deheriàs, deherià, deheriàmo, deheriàz, deheriàn
• Present Subjunctive: dicia, dicias, dicia, diciamo, diciaz, dician
• Imperfect Subjunctive: dehìrra, dehìrras, dehìrra, dehìrramo, dehìrraz, dehìrran

• pusse: to be able to
• Present Indicative: pò, pes, pe, pemo, pez, pen
• Preterite Indicative: puì, puist, peu, puìm, puìste, puìtu
• Future Indicative: puère, puèras, puèri, puèremo, puèraz, puèrin
• Imperfect Indicative: puià, puiàs, puià, puiàmo, puiàz, puiàn
• Present Conditional: puerià, pueriàs, puerià, pueriàmo, pueriàz, pueriàn
• Present Subjunctive: pa, pas, pa, pamo, paz, pan
• Imperfect Subjunctive: puìrra, puìrras, puìrra, puìrramo, puìrraz, puìrran

• fare: to make, do
• Present Indicative: facio, faces, face, facemo, faces, facen
• Preterite Indicative: fè, fast, fu, fàm, faste, fàtu
• Future Indicative: fàre, fàras, fàri, fàremo, fàraz, fàrin
• Imperfect Indicative: fià, fiàs, fià, fiàmo, fiàz, fiàn
• Present Conditional: farià, fariàs, farià, fariàmo, fariàz, fariàn
• Present Subjunctive: facie, facies, facia, faciemo, faciez, facien
• Imperfect Subjunctive: fàrra, fàrras, fàrra, fàrramo, fàrraz, fàrran

Verbal Morphology: Indicative Mood Compound Tenses

These are tenses that in English are formed by more than one verb: I have gone, I had gone, I will have gone, I am going to go, I would have gone; etc. To form these compound tenses, you will need, in many cases, the present and past participles. To form the present participle of a regular verb, remove the final -r and add -nd. This is equivalent to the English -ing form. To form the past participle of a regular verb, remove the final -r and add -d. This is equivalent to the English -ed form.

Present Perfect Indicative Conjugation

The present perfect is equivalent to English "I have done something". It is formed by placing the present indicative form of avesse before the past participle of a verb.

• Me ha parlàd: he has spoken to me
• Hò savèd por muci anhi: I have known for many years

Pluperfect Indicative Conjugation

The pluperfect is equivalent to English "I had done something". It is formed by placing the preterite indicative form of avesse before the past participle of a verb.

• Me hu parlàd: he had spoken to me
• Hè savèd por muci anhi: I had known for many years

Present Progressive Indicative Conjugation

The present progressive form is equivalent to English "I am doing something". It is formed by placing the present indicative form of esse before the present participle of a verb.

• Me è parlànd: he is speaking to me
• Sò savènd: I am knowing

Future Perfect Indicative Conjugation

The future perfect is equivalent to English "I will have done something". It is formed by placing the future indicative form of avesse before the past participle of a verb.

• Me hàri parlàd: he will have spoken to me
• Hàre savèd por muci anhi: I will have known for many years

Simple Future Indicative Conjugation

The simple future is equivalent to English "I am going to do something". It is formed by placing the present indicative form of ire before an infinitive verb.

• Me va parlàr: he is going to speak to me
• Vò savèr por muci anhi: I am going to know for many years

Past Conditional Indicative Conjugation

The past conditional is equivalent to English "I would have done something". It is formed by placing the present conditional form avesse before the past participle of a verb.

• Me harià parlàd: he would have spoken to me
• Harià savèd por muci anhi: I would have known for many years

Imperfect Progressive Indicative Conjugation

The imperfect progressive is equivalent to English "I was doing something". It is formed by placing the imperfect form of esse before the present participle of a verb.

• Me era parlànd: he was speaking to me
• Erò savènd: I was knowing

Nominal Morphology: Articles

These are equivalent to English "the", "a", "an", and "some". The articles agree in gender and number with their accompanying nouns.

• The masculine singular definite article is il.
• The masculine plural definite article is lhi.
• The feminine singular definite article is al.
• The neuter singular definite article is el.
• The feminine and neuter plural definite article is lhe.
• The masculine singular indefinite article is un.
• The masculine plural indefinite article is uni.
• The feminine singular indefinite article is una.
• The neuter singular indefinite article is unu.
• The feminine and neuter plural indefinite article is une.

Adjective Morphology: Gender and Number

Adjectives, like articles, must agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify. Adjectives change their ending to reflect their gender and number. So felicho is the singular masculine form of "happy", and feliche is the plural feminine/neuter form of "happy". Here is felicho in all its forms. The endings it has are applicable to all adjectives.

• The masculine singular form is felicho.
• The masculine plural form is felichi.
• The feminine singular form is felicha.
• The neuter singular form is felichu.
• The feminine and neuter plural form is feliche.

Verbal Morphology: The Passive Voice

The passive voice is formed using a specific pattern. It is equivalent to English "something was done by me". Use this format for the passive voice.

• [Patient noun]+esse+[past participle of main verb]+còmo (by)+[agent noun or prepositional object pronoun]

Verbal Morphology: Subjunctive Mood Simple Tenses

The subjunctive mood (sometimes referred to as the conjunctive mood) is a grammatical mood of the verb that expresses wishes, commands (in subordinate clauses), emotion, possibility, judgment, necessity and statements that are contrary to fact.[1]

Present Subjunctive Conjugation

The present subjunctive is used in relative clauses wherever the present indicative would be used. The present subjunctive stem is the first person singular present indicative stem. It is equivalent to English "if I were to..." and "I may..." and similar constructions.

• The eo form ending is -e for -a stem verbs and -a for -e and -i stem verbs.
• The tu form ending is -es for -a stem verbs and -as for -e and -i stem verbs.
• The lho, lha, and vùzu form ending is -e for -a stem verbs and -a for -e and -i stem verbs.
• The nòzo form ending is -emo for -a stem verbs and -amo for -e and -i stem verbs.
• The vòzo form ending is -ez for -a stem verbs and -az for -e and -i stem verbs.
• The lhi and lhe form ending is -en for -a stem verbs and -an for -e and -i stem verbs.
• Parlàr: parle, parles, parle, parlemo, parlez, parlen
• Savèr: sava, savas, sava, savamo, savaz, savan
• Venìr: vena, venas, vena, venamo, venaz, venan
• Pusse: pa, pas, pa, pamo, paz, pan

Imperfect Subjunctive Conjugation

The imperfect subjunctive is used wherever the imperfect or preterite indicative would be used in a relative clause. The imperfect subjunctive stem is the third person plural form of the preterite indicative, without the final -tu.

• The eo form ending is -rra.
• The tu form ending is -rras.
• The lho, lha, and vùzu form ending is -rra.
• The nòzo form ending is -rramo.
• The vòzo form ending is -rraz.
• The lhi and lhe form ending is -rran.
• Parlàr: parlàrra, parlàrras, parlàrra, parlàrramo, parlàrraz, parlàrran
• Savèr: savìrra, savìrras, savìrra, savìrramo, savìrraz, savìrran
• Venir: venìrra, venìrras, venìrra, venìrramo, venìrraz, venìrran
• Pusse: puìrra, puìrras, puìrra, puìrramo, puìrraz, puìrran

Verbal Morphology: Imperative Mood

The imperative mood is used to give commands. While Central Carune languages do not distinguish between positive and negative commands, other than by adding the verb negator before the command, Eastern Carune languages do. Commands are very simple in Mònzo. Affirmative commands (do something) are formed by taking the present subjunctive form of a verb. Negative commands (don't do anything) are formed by taking the imperfect subjunctive form of a verb. Object pronouns for positive imperatives are added to the end of the imperative in this order: reflexive, direct object, indirect object. Objects for negative imperatives precede the verb as normal. Attaching an object pronoun places a stress accent on the final vowel of the basic imperative, or in the case of the nòzo form, the penultimate vowel.

• Parlème!: speak to me! (vùzu)
• Non me approchàrras: do not approach me! (tu)
• Vemo!: let's go! (nòzo)

Contractions

Mònzo, like many languages, incorporates some contractions. In Mònzo, the singular definite article contracts with the prepositions in (in, on), a (to, at), and de (of, from).

• in+il=nil
• in+al=nal
• in+el=nel
• a+il=al
• a+al=al
• a+al=al
• de+il=del
• de+al=del
• de+el=del

Pronominative Morphology: Nonpersonal Pronouns

Mònzo, like other Carune languages, incorporates a number of non-personal pronouns in three groups: interrogative (who), locative (here), and relative (that, which).

Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns indicate a question. In English, they are: who, what, where, when, why, how, how much/many, and which.

• Che: what
• Quu: who
• Dove: where
• Quande: when
• Per che: why
• Quante: how much
• Quale: which

Locative Pronouns

Locative pronouns describe place. The locative pronouns in English are "here" and "there". In Mònzo, they are.

• Qui: here
• Alha: there

Relative Pronouns

The relative pronouns join a relative or subordinate clause to a main clause. The relative pronouns in English are that/which, who, what, where, when, and why. Quo (that, which) also means "because", so pay attention to the context in which it is used.

• Quo: that/which
• Chu: who
• Que: what
• Dovè: where
• Chande: when
• Perque: why

Verbal Morphology: Subjunctive Mood Compound Tenses

Like the indicative mood compound tenses, these are a combination of a verb and a participle, though these are in the subjunctive.

Present Perfect Subjunctive Conjugation

The present perfect subjunctive is used where the indicative present perfect would be used, but only in relative or subordinate clauses. The present perfect subjunctive is a combination of the present subjunctive of avesse followed by the past participle of a verb.

• Me he parlàd: he may have spoken to me
• He savèd por muci anhi: I may have known for many years

Pluperfect Subjunctive Conjugation

The pluperfect subjunctive is used where the indicative present perfect would be used, but only in relative or subordinate clauses. The pluperfect subjunctive is a combination of the imperfect subjunctive of avesse followed by the past participle of a verb.

• Me hàrra parlàd: he might have spoken to me
• Hàrra savèd por muci anhi: I might have known for many years

Verbal Morphology: Idiomatic Verbs

There are a number of idiomatic verbs, mostly using the irregular verbs avesse and fare.

With Avesse

Avesse is used in a number of cases where English uses "to be". Some of the most common uses are:

• avesse de: to have to [do something]
• avesse sonha: to be sleepy
• avesse habra: to be hungry
• avesse tirssa: to be thirsty

With Fare

Idioms with fare typically relate to the weather. Here are a few:

• facie fresca: it's cold
• facie caldo: it's warm
• facie solha: it's sunny