Cirtanian

General information
Cirtanian, known natively as Cirtaugnan/Χιρταυνιαν <ʃir'tawɲ.ans> or Ling Cirtaugnan/Λινγ Χιρταυνιαν ('liŋg ʃiɾt'aw.ɲan) is a Romance language native to the island of Cirtania east of Italy in the Mediterranean sea. It split off from late Classical/ early Vulgar Latin and retains some aspects of Latin lost in other languages such as nouns that decline to case in number (though the ablative, dative and genitive cases merged, and the fourth and fifth declensions merged with the second and third) Due to its proximity to Greece, it picked up several Greek loanwords as well as phonological and grammatical influences. There is even a way of writing the language in the Attic alphabet used mainly in Greece and taught in most schools in Cirtania, though the Latin system is more common and will be used primarily in this grammar.

Consonants
Some notes about the orthography
 * The rule about c and g is similar Italian: c and g are pronounced  and  except before i, e and their long variants. Ch and gh are variants of c and g used to maintain the hard pronunciation even before i and e. The Attic variant instead uses the separate letters χ and ζ to represent the soft pronunciation.
 * Z is pronounced as ts if it derives from a t in Latin (i.e. nātiō > nauziu <'naw. ts i.u>) and dz if it derives from a d (persuādeō > persuauziu 
 * X is a similar story doctus > dox <'doks>, vagus > vax <'vagz>. However, when the x is followed by a soft c, it is pronounced kʃ.
 * I and u represent  and  before another vowel.
 * The letter h is always silent and is not even represented in the Attic variant.
 * N and l have palatal allophones when followed by an unstressed front vowel and another vowel. In the Latin writing system, the Italian convention of gn and gl is used, whereas no special spelling is used in Greek since a similar allophony already exists in Greek (it is written νι or λι, hence magno is written in Greek μανιo and Itaglia is written Ιταλια)

Vowels
Greek borrowings usually use Greek-resembling spellings in the Attic variant even when they conflict with how Cirtanian is typically spelled. Thus anoits (stupid) is spelled ανοητς instead of ανοιτς, although it is not uncommon for native speakers to misspell these words.

Sound Changes
Cirtanian sound changes happened in four stages. The first were unique to Cirtanian and define it from other Romance languages. The second were the basic changes of Vulgar Latin (of which only most occurred in Cirtanian, some sound changes did not manifest except in Romance borrowings.) Then, after the split of the Roman Empire, a series of Hellenistic sound changes occurred. Finally, a second series of Romance sound changes occurred due to influence from Italy.

Original Cirtanian Changes (100 BC - 100 AD)
Short initial unstressed vowels dropped initially and finally unless a consonant other than -s follows it Long vowels diphthongize, shift place, or simply remain the same. Final plosives become affricates (except in feminine nouns/adjectives) Double vowels simplify
 * bonus (good) > bons (later > buons)
 * lātus (wide) > lauz
 * cēlō (hide) > cilu
 * rōmānus (Roman) > rumauns (urban, civilized)
 * crūdelis (rude, evil) > crodels
 * et (and) > ez > es (de-affrication is irregular)
 * per hoc (for this reason) > peróc (however, but)  > peróx
 * comēta (comet) > comit
 * tuus (your) > tos (note, the short u > o was because of analogy with tū > to, not a regular sound change.)
 * vacuus (empty) > vacus > vax (ignorant)

Vulgar Latin Changes (0 AD - 200 AD)
Diphthongs become monophthongs E turns into i before another vowel and after a lenitable consonant.
 * caelum (sky) > celo
 * deinde (then) > denz
 * deiciō (throw down) > deciu (defeat)
 * laus (praise) > los
 * persuādeō (persuade) > persauziu

E before a vowel elsewhere disappears Word-final M drops C and g palalize after i and e.
 * iāceō (throw) > giaciu
 * habeō > aveu > avu
 * templum > tempio (note the u > o resulted from analogy with the Greek neuter, not any sound change.)
 * quam > quă
 * circum > circo ('tʃir.co)
 * gēns (tribe) > gins ('dʒins)

Hellenist Sound Changes (285 AD- 1200 AD)
Unstressed vowels with no onset drop initially, and an m, n or l after the dropped vowel disappears and voices the following consonant. Sc and St metathesize at the beginning of a word (except sc doesn't metathesize before i or e) Consonants degeminate .Palatals de-affricate
 * angustus (narrow) > gusz (often pronounced  rather than )
 * imperium (empire) > berio (nation)
 * stō (stand) > zu
 * σκιά (shadow) > xiă
 * sciō (know) > ciu (study)
 * callidus > caliz
 * circo ('tʃir.co) > circo ('ʃir.co)
 * gins ('dʒins) > gins ('ʒins)

Italic Sound Changes (1096 AD - present)
L becomes i after a fricative or plosive E and o raise in stressed open syllables I and u lower in stressed closed syllables
 * plūs (more) > pio
 * flōs (flower) > fios
 * tepidus (lukewarm) > tipiz (indifferent)
 * novus (new) > nuvs ('nuvz)
 * victus (defeated) > vecz

B becomes v intervocallicaly
 * iungō (join) > giongu
 * habeō (have) > avu
 * caballus (horse) > cavals

Nouns and Adjectives
As stated previously, nouns decline in two major groups to four cases and two numbers. Below are some examples of declined nouns and adjectives.

Masculine
Former second declension nouns (called masculi normali) are pretty much the same as Latin plus sound change. Former third declension nouns with a nominative singular ending of -is, -(C)s, -x, or -or became second declension (called masculi normali). Other third declension nouns retained their paradigm, and are called masculi gonditi.

Feminine
Former first declension nouns (called feminine normale) are also the same as Latin plus sound change. Former third declension nouns (feminine gondite) again retain a paradigm closer to the Latin third.

Neuter Again, both declensions remain mostly the same. Second declension nouns are called neutră normală and third neutră gondită.

As should be expected, adjectives must agree with the nouns they modify in number, gender and case. Thus large flower would be fios magnăs, large girl would be corít magn, and large nation would be berio magno.

Articles and Prepositions
Latin prepositions that governed the ablative or genitive case now govern the dative case, and Latin prepositions that governed the accusative case still govern that case, with a few exceptions and irregularities. A few common prepositions:

in (+ABL in, inside, +ACC in, into) > en (+DAT in, inside, +ACC in, into)

ēx (+ABL out of, outside of) > es (+DAT outside of, +ACC (moving) out of)

dē (+ABL down from, about) > di (+DAT about, +ACC down from)

sub (+ABL beneath) > suv (+DAT beneath, less than)

super (+ACC beyond) > sur

Like most Romance languages, Cirtanian's articles derive from Latin ille, illa illud.