Andusoan

Setting
Morlagoan (Morlagonno) is one of the official languages of the United Islands of Morlago (Las Islas Unitas de Mòrlago). It is a Romance language that shares some characteristics with Spanish, Portuguese, French and Italian, but in some aspects it retains more features of Latin.

Diphthongs
The five vowels are divided into strong vowels (a, e, o) and weak vowels (i, u). Diphthongs are formed when a strong vowel is followed by a weak vowel (e.g. ai, eu, oi) or the reverse (e.g. ia, ue), or when two weak vowels are together (i.e. iu, ui). When they are desired to be pronounced separately, an grave accent is added to the first vowel (e.g. agua water ['agwa] and fueron they were ['fweron], but geografìa geography [d͡ʒeogɾa'fi.a] and policìa police [poli'ʃi.a). Triphthongs are formed when two weak vowels enclose a strong vowel.

Phonotactics
The basic syllabic structure is C(C)(C)V(C), where C represents consonants, V represents vowels or vowel clusters and letters in parentheses (e.g. (C)) are optional. The following are the phonological rules of Morlagoan:


 * The beginning consonant can be any consonant, except for ñ /ŋ/


 * If the initial consonant is s, b, p, t, f, g or c, a second consonant is possible.
 * If it is s, the second consonant must be p or t.
 * If it is b or p, the second consonant must be r or l.
 * If it is t, f, c, or g, the second consonant must be r.


 * A third consonant is only available if the first two were either st or sp. St can only be followed by r while sp can be followed by r or l.


 * If the vowel is a triphthong, it cannot be followed by a consonant.


 * Any consonant can end a syllable.

Therefore, the consonant clusters excepted are (s)pr, (s)tr, br, bl, cr, gr or fr. However, it must noted that this only applies to sounds of the same syllable (since the definition of a consonant cluster is disputed). Ducto /dukto/ (past participle of ducire - to lead) is accepted because the cluster /kt/ are not in the same syllable. Therefore, it is actually possible to create a word such as *reglaclotla, which would contain the forbidden clusters of gl, cl and tl, as long as it is pronounced as so: [ɾeg.lak.lot.la]. However, such a word is most likely going to result in [ɾeglaklotla] in fast speech, which is why such a word does not exist.

Pronunciation and Orthography
Morlagoan uses the Latin alphabet, with the addition of ñ and exception of w and k, making a total of 25 letters. In order they are:

A B C D E F G H I J L M N Ñ O P Q R S T U V X Y Z a b c d e f g h i j l m n ñ o p q r s t u v x y z

They are pronounced as follows:

Vowels

Consonants

The pronunciation of S
S is the most complicated letter with regards to phonological rules. It can represent three different phonemes: /ʃ/, /s/ and /z/.


 * S can be pronounced as /ʃ/ in the clusters st and sp to form /ʃt/ and /ʃp/


 * S is pronounced as /s/ when it is:
 * in a word initial/final position
 * followed by a consonant
 * intervocalic and following a syllable that does not begin with an affricate or fricative (i.e. does not begin with /s/, /z/, /f/, /v/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /t͡ʃ/, /d͡ʒ/), or when following a stressed syllable with an initial sound of /p/ or /b/


 * S is pronounced as /z/ when it is intervocalic that does begin

Gender
All nouns are assigned into one of the two genders in Morlagoan: masculine or feminine. While in some situations it is predictable, such as a bull being masculine and a cow being feminine, the gender of inanimate objects is arbitrary and the gender of each noun must be learnt. A rule of thumb is that nouns ending in -o are usually masculine and those ending in -a are feminine, like in Spanish and Italian.

Number
Nouns are made plural by the following rules:


 * If the noun ends in a vowel (e.g. deo god, mura wall), -s is added to the end (e.g. deo > deos mura > muras).


 * If the noun ends in a consonant other than -l or -c (e.g. mar sea, condisiòn condition), -es is added to the end (e.g. mar > mares, condisiòn > condisiones †).


 * If the noun ends in -c (e.g. pòrec pig), the -c is removed and -ques is added (e.g. pòrec > pòreques).


 * If the noun ends in -l (e.g. nivel level, degree), the -l is removed, -is is added and the vowel before it is accented (e.g. nivel > nivèis). Double i's merge (e.g. sil small wood, bush > *sìis > sìs).

† Note the loss of the diacritic. This will be explained in the Stress section.

Definiteness and Case
Morlagoan has lost the case system which exists in Latin, and nouns do not decline according to definiteness. Instead, articles are added to show definitiveness, and this will be explained below in the Articles section.

Adjectives
Adjectives decline according to the number and gender of the noun that it compliments. The declensions of adjectives (using bono good as an example) are shown in the tables below.


 * masculine singular - homo bono good man
 * masculine plural - homos bonos good men
 * feminine singular - parte bona good part
 * feminine plural - partes bonas good parts

Some adjectives have the same form for masculine and feminine. These are normally those that do not end in -o for masculine singular (e.g. triste sad, posibel possible). For these, they will only have two forms: masculine and feminine singular, and masculine and feminine plural (e.g. sg: triste pl. tristes, sg. posibel pl. posibèis). Plural adjectives are formed according to the plurality rules of nouns.

Comparatives
The comparative form of the adjective is formed by adding plu (more) in front of the adjective (e.g. alto high, tall > plu alto higher, taller). The adjective declines as usual according to the rules above (e.g. plu alto/alta/altos/altas). The comparative form of bono (good) and malo (bad) are irregular:
 * bono good > meyor better
 * malo bad > peor worse

When used to compare two objects, the adjective is usually followed by de (that) (e.g. Lo elefante è plu gran del gato. The elephant is bigger than the cat.). Like in English, the second object can be omitted when the context is clear (e.g. Lo elefante è plu gran. The elephant is bigger.)

However, the comparative can be used with the definite article lo (e.g. Cual è lo meyor? Which is the better one?). Lo morphs according to the rules shown in the Article section. (e.g. Jon è lo plu inteligente de los dos. John is the cleverer one of the two.; Cual mesa debo comprar? Va, cual è la meyor? Which table should I buy? Well, which is the better one?)

Superlatives
The superlative is formed as such:


 * If the adjective ends in a vowel, the last vowel is removed and -ìssimo is added (e.g. masculino masculine, manly > masculinìssimo most masculine, most manly; triste sad > tristìssimo saddest).


 * If the adjective ends in a consonant, -ìssimo is directly added to the word (e.g. dificil difficult > dificilìssimo most difficult).
 * The superlative declines according to the declensions above (e.g. tristìssimo/tristìssima/tristìssimos/tristìssimas)

The superlative form of bono (good) and malo (bad) are irregular:
 * bono good > òptimo best
 * malo bad > pèsimo worst

When used to compare objects, lo (the) usually precedes the adjective, which is followed by de (of) (e.g. Petro è l'òptimo futbolator del mondo, mai Cristiana è la pèsima. Peter is the best footballer in the world, but Christiana is the worst.). Note the gender agreement between Cristiana, la and pèsima.

Prepositions
Like all other Romance languages, Morlagoan has lost the original case system found in Latin and has turned to using prepositions to show the relationship between words.

Articles
Articles determines the definiteness of a noun. Like English, there is a definite and indefinite article, each having four forms to represent masculine and feminine, and singular and plural. The definite article is lo, while the indefinite article is un. The following table shows how it morphs according to the gender and number of the noun.


 * definite masculine singular - lo mar the sea
 * definite masculine plural - los mares the seas
 * definite feminine singular - la fior the flower
 * definite feminine plural - las fiores the flowers


 * indefinite masculine singular - un libro a book
 * indefinite masculine plural - unos libros some/several books
 * indefinite feminine singular - una mura a wall
 * indefinite feminine plural - unas muras some/several walls

The neuter article O
There is also a neuter article in Morlagoan, o, not to be confused with o (or). This is used in the following situations:


 * Used to mean "the thing" in the phrases o que (the thing that/what - e.g. O que vulòu pro la Natività è... The thing that/What I want for Christmas is...) and o de (the thing of/the matter of - e.g. O de que seo una beza enorma na cità è la vertà. The thing about/The matter about there being a gigantic beast in the city is true.; La gente spe do del goberno. The people know of the problem/matter with the government.).


 * Used with adjectives to create abstract nouns (e.g. Mìa madre me demanda o imposibel. My mother demands the impossible from me.; O bono de vivir nas essurbas è que noi seo muicho tràfico. The good thing about living in the countryside is that there isn't much traffic.). O morphs into u when it precedes a word starting with o- or ho- (e.g. Tottro mondo vulè u òptimo. Everyone wants the best.)


 * Used with infinitives to create a noun (usually translated as the gerund in English) (e.g. O fumar sta prohitto. Smoking is prohibited.; O fayar morlagonno è muicho dificil. Speaking Morlagoan is very difficult.). O morphs to u when preceding an infinitive starting with o- or ho- (e.g. U oìrte me vesa. Listening to you annoys me.)


 * Used with nouns as an honorific (e.g. O senor/senora vulè alco de beber? Would the fine gentleman/lady like something to drink?). It can be used in conjunction with deteminers (e.g. O isto senor This fine gentleman), adjectives (e.g. O Sua Majestà His/Her Majesty, O suave voce do dama The oh-so sweet voice of the lady) etc.

Contractions
Some forms of the articles contract when they precede certain nouns:


 * Only the singular forms contract.
 * lo contracts to l' when it precedes a noun/adjective starting with o- or ho- (e.g. *lo ojo the eye > l'ojo, *lo hotel the hotel > l'hotel)
 * la contracts to l' when it precedes a noun/adjective starting with a- or ha- (e.g. *la arena the sand, arena > l'arena, *la habità habitat > l'habità)
 * un does not contract
 * una contracts to un' when it precedes a noun starting with a- or ha- (e.g. *una arena an arena > un'arena, *una habità a habitat > un'habità)
 * o does not contract with nouns

Lo(s), la(s) and o also contract with many prepositions and conjunctions:

Contractions can combine where necessary. The only way this can happen is when there a preposition combines with an article, which also contracts to a noun or adjective according to the rules stated in the previous section. This will simply be adding the noun or adjective to the presposition-article combination in the case of contractions ending with -l(a) (e.g. al'hotel to the hotel, del'homo of the man, prol'ojo for the eye, pel'arena through the arena/sand). The contractions of en, con and tot contract even further to n'-, con'- and tottr'- to preserve the phonetic value of the contractions (e.g. n'hotel in the hotel, con'agua with the water, tottr'habità the entire/whole habitat). However, the neuter article o cannot form such complex contractions. When preceding a word with the initial sound as its final sound (o-/ho- for do,no, cono and vo; u-/hu- for eu and peu), it does not further contract or morph to u as it normally does.