Italic (working title)
⚠️ 🏗️ Under Construction 🚧 ⚠️
Inspired by Latin and Italian. Playing around with stress.
Check out the dictionary.
Phonology
Stress
Penultimate unless marked otherwise with the acute accent ‘.
Naturally, monosyllables don’t need the accent.
Exception: The verb dá is accented so as to distinguish it from the preposition da.
Nouns
Always end in -a.
Neither gender nor number are marked.
Adjectives
End in -a in normal usage.
As adverbs, end in -á (stress becomes final) or -é (when stress is already final).
Examples
- bela — pretty
- belá — prettily
Comparatives
Begins with one of the following comparative particles:
| Particle | English equivalent | |
|---|---|---|
| Equative | tan | as |
| Positive comparative | ma | more |
| Negative comparative | meno | less |
| Absolute comparative | tro | too |
The (optional) particle come is used to specify what is being compared to. The equative particle tan can be omitted when come is used, e.g. bela come te or tan bela come te “as pretty as you”.
Examples
- ma bela come la — prettier than them
- ma belá — more prettily
- tro bela — too pretty
Superlative
Simply prepend the particle asái (equivalent to English -est).
Examples
- asái bela — very pretty, prettiest
- asái belá — very prettily
Negative
Simply prepend the particle non (equivalent to English not or un-).
Can be combined with the comparatives and the superlative.
Examples
- non bela — not pretty
- non meno bela come me — not less pretty than me
Verbs
Simple forms
| Affix | |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | -á |
| Present | -o |
| Perfective past | -ó |
| Imperfective past | -ío |
| Subjunctive | -ái |
| Past participle | -áta |
- For stems with final stress, the perfective past affix is -í instead.
The acute accent on the table above indicates that an affix changes the natural stress of the stem; it may or may not actually be marked graphically, according to the rules of stress.
The participles work like adjectives. They have no adverbial form, however.
Examples
- vedá — to see
- vedo — sees
- vedó — saw
- vedio — was seeing
- (cosa) vedata — seen (thing)
Compound forms
Some verbs can be used as auxiliaries, preceding verbs in the infinitive form. This accomplishes several analytic tense–aspect–mood (TAM) functions:
| Auxiliary | English equivalent | |
|---|---|---|
| Future | volá | will |
| Volitive | volá | wants to |
| Potential | posá | can, may |
| Deontic | devá | should, must |
Examples
- volo comá — will eat / wants to eat
- non posá piová — to not be able to rain
Prepositions
| Type | Preposition | English equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Locative | in | at, in |
| Lative | a | to |
| Ablative | da | from |
| Instrumental | con | with |
The lative a and ablative da are also used with dative and agentive functions, respectively.
Examples
- di a me — gave to me
- data a me — given to me
- vedata da me — seen by me
Passive voice
Simply add -r to a verb form, including the infinitive. The subjunctive becomes -ári.
The passive voice is also used for generic statements like studor qui “it is studied here” (i.e. this is a place where one studies). This usage works even for verbs without objects and which therefore wouldn’t normally occur in the passive.
Examples
- dor a me — is given to me
- non perdonór — was not forgiven
- comari — be eaten!
Infinitive vs. Subjunctive
These two forms of the verb can be difficult to distinguish sometimes.
The infinitive form is used in the following situations:
-
Nominalization — When referring to the action of the verb, as a noun.
Example: studá fatico me — studying exhausts me
-
Compound forms — As the main verb in a compound verb form.
Example: me volo cantá — I will / want to sing
The subjunctive form, on the other hand, is used in these situations:
-
Hypothetical — In a sentence of uncertain veracity, or imagination.
Example: me danzái se (me) posái — I would dance if I could
-
Imperative — Making a request/command (without the subject).
Example: venái qui — come here
Conjunctions
| Type | Preposition | English equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Adversative | ma | but |
| Causal | perché | because |
| Conditional | se | if |
| Additive | e | and |
| Alternative | o | or |
Longer examples
| Cana volo piacá gata con cantia sua. | |
|---|---|
| cana vol-o piac-á gata con cantia sua | |
| Gloss | dog will-PRS please-INF cat with song their |
| English | ”The dog will please the cat with their song.” |
| Mama mia volio che gata danzái ma la non faró. | |
|---|---|
| mama mia vol-io che gata danz-ái ma la non far-ó | |
| Gloss | parent my want-NPFV.PST COMP cat dance-SJV but it not do-PST |
| English | ”My parent wanted the cat to dance, but it didn’t.” |
| Qui rata non rapidá como chesa. | |
|---|---|
| qui rata non rapid-á com-o chesa | |
| Gloss | here rats not quick-ADV eat-PRS cheese |
| English | ”Here the rats don’t eat cheese quickly.” |
| Chesa comata da me sto ma buona. | |
|---|---|
| chesa com-ata da me st-o ma buona | |
| Gloss | cheese eat-PTCP.PST by me is-PRS more good |
| English | ”Cheese eaten by me is (tastes) better.” |
Dictionary
| Root | Type | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| alta | A | high, tall |
| andá | V | go, walk |
| aqua | N | water |
| bela | A | pretty |
| breva | A | brief |
| buona | A | good |
| cana | N | dog |
| cantá | V | sing, chant |
| cantia | N | song, chant |
| carmina | N | poem, music |
| cativa | A | bad |
| cela | N | sky |
| chesa | N | cheese |
| comá | V | eat |
| cosa | N | thing |
| dá | V | give |
| danza | N | dance |
| danzá | V | dance |
| delicata | A | fragile |
| distia | ||
| dona | N | person (polite) |
| fará | V | do |
| faticá | V | get/make tired |
| felica | A | happy |
| fiora | N | flower |
| fiuma | N | river |
| forta | A | strong |
| gata | N | cat |
| la | N | they, it |
| li | N | there |
| mama | N | parent |
| mia | A | my |
| non | ? | not |
| ola | ||
| pardoná | V | forgive |
| piacá | V | please |
| piová | V | rain |
| posá | V | be possible, be able to |
| quela | A | that |
| questa | A | this |
| qui | N | here |
| rápida | A | fast, quick |
| rata | N | rat, mouse |
| sapá | V | know |
| sola | A | only, just |
| sorela | N | sibling |
| sta | V | be |
| studá | V | study |
| sua | A | their |
| trista | A | sad |
| tua | A | your |
| vedá | V | see |
| vená | V | come |
| vivá | V | live, reside |
| volá | V | want, will |