Romanslavic

Romanslavic is a hybrid Romance-Slavic constructed language, rooted both in Old Church Slavonic and Latin branches. Basically, it uses Romance radicals in a strong Slavic sounding. Unlike Romanian, it incorporates more Slavic loans in its grammar and vocabulary (such as the lack of articles) and may not seem comprehensible to all Romance-language speakers at first sight. Within its fictitious universe, Romanslavic is spoken mainly in Volkarina (where it’s called volkarinski) and constituent republics of former Romanslavia (Latinslavija).

Romanslavic was developed by screenwriter Pedro Aguiar, an amateur conlanger, for a couple of his screenplays.

According to its own fictitious history, Romanslavic has very recent normatization, since until the end of the 19th century, its usage was forbidden by the Ottomans and Russians. While these empires ruled Romanslavia, the language had only oral registry. Only after the 1860s, a group of scholars in Western Europe would have begun registering the first written records of the language. An ancient variant can also be found among peasant communities who live in Romanslavian plains.

Alphabets
There are essentially three ways of writing Romanslavic: Cyrillic, Roman and transliterated Roman. Volkarinian Romanslavic uses Cyrillic alphabet, whilst all variants else use Roman script (with the additional characters used by Northern Slavic languages). When transliterating, Volkarinians prefer to use Y for “short i” and digraph KH for “voiced h”, but other speakers use J and X, respectively.


 * А, Б, Ч, Д, Е, Ф, Г, Х, И, Ј, К, Л, М, Н, О, П, Ц, Р, С, Т, У, В, Ш, З, Ђ
 * A, B, Č, D, E, F, G, X, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, C, R, S, T, U, V, Š, Z, þ
 * A, B, TCH, D, E, F, G, KH, I, Y, K, L, M, N, O, P, TS, R, S, T, U, W, SH, Z, TH

There’s a difference in pronunciation between urban, cosmopolitan accent in Prastova and Xristina (the largest cities in Volkarina) and that of the countryside, as well as other regions where Romanslavic is spoken: while the earliests recognize J as a semivowel “i” sound and V as a semivowel “u”, the latter pronounce them as “zh” and “v”, respectively. Romanslavic also has the “þ” or “th” (thorn) consonant, just like in English.


 * А, A, A	(a)		as in “jar”
 * Б, B, B	(be) - 		same as in English
 * Ч, Č, TCH	(tche) - 		like ‘ch’ in “chair”
 * Д, D, D	(de) - 		as in “deed”
 * Е, E, E	(e) - 		as in “bed”
 * Ф, F, F	(fe) - 		same as in English
 * Г, G, G	(ge) - 		as in “good” (always hard sound, never soft like “general”)
 * Х, X, KH	(khe) - 		like ‘h’ in “home”
 * И, I, I	(i) - 		like ‘ee’ in “bee”
 * Ј, J, Y	(i shurt) - 		like ‘y’ in “yankee” (semivowel sound; may sound like “zh” in rural dialects)
 * К, K, K	(ka) - 		as in “kart” (always a hard sound, never soft like “key”)
 * Л, L, L	(le) - 		same as in English
 * М, M, M	(me) - 		same as in English
 * Н, N, N	(ne) - 		same as in English
 * О, O, O	(o) - 		as in “amok” (never an open sound like “hot”)
 * П, P, P	(pe) - 		same as in English
 * Ц, C, TS	(tse) - 		like ‘zz’ in “pizza”
 * Р, R, R	(arot) - 		like ‘tt’ in “butter” (in American accent)
 * С, S, S	(se) - 		as in “sad” (always a soft sound, never hard like a Z)
 * Т, T, T	(te) - 		as in “tone” (always a hard sound, never soft like “tea”)
 * У, U, U	(u) - 		like ‘oo’ in “tool”
 * В, V, W	(uve) - 		like ‘w’ in “wait” (semivowel sound; may sound like “v” in rural dialects)
 * Ш, Š, SH	(she) - 		like ‘sh’ in “show”
 * З, Z, Z	(ze) - 		same as in English
 * Ђ, þ, TH	(the) - 		as in “thin”

The use of X for the voiced /h/ sound in the Roman script is somewhat peculiar, as it looks like the Cyrillic letter Х which corresponds to this phoneme. However, it is worth notice that in Spanish (Castillian), the letter X is equivalent to J sometimes, and both may correspond to the same voiced /h/ phoneme (as in México sounding similar as Méjico). Interestingly as well, the Roman X in Portuguese sounds the same as the digraph CH, which in its turn is used for voiced /h/ in many languages (from German, Austro-Bavarian accent, to Hebrew transliteration).

In Romanslavic, the X is usually placed where the digraph CH or the voiced /h/ was present in the etymological root of the word (such as Xristant, Christian, or Xebrev, Jew/Hebrew).

Grammar

 * 1) The words have Romance radicals, whenever possible and euphonic.
 * 2) There are no articles.
 * 3) There are two genders - male and female - and two numbers - singular and plural. These are applied only for nouns and pronouns. Adjetives follow no gender.
 * 4) Nouns ending in consonants or e are male; when ending in other vowel except e, they are female.
 * 5) Plural (of nouns) is made by adding an i to nouns ending in consonants, and an je to those ending in vowels; adjectives, pronouns, and adverbs do not declinse in gender or number.
 * 6) Cases are nominative, genitive (adding suffix –av), instrumentative (adding suffix –vak) and acusative (adding suffix –le). All else use prepositions.
 * 7) When conjugating first person in plural (we = mje), one must add an “u” if it's inclusive (in other words, if the speaker includes himself among the subject of the sentence).
 * 8) Ortography is regular: the pronunciation of almost any word can be perfectly predicted from its written form. Exceptions lie on phonetic stress in some words borrowed from other tongues.

Romanslavic is a relatively inflected language, with a two-gender system and about thirty conjugated forms per verb, but small noun declension and limited pronominal declension. Almost all verbs are perfectly regular, except for bit (to be), abit (to have/to exist), ajit (to go), and xasit (to do/to make).

Romanslavic syntax is generally Subject-Verb-Object, though variations are common. Romanslavic is a right-branching language which uses prepositions, and usually places adjectives before nouns. It is also a pro-drop language (allows the deletion of pronouns when pragmatically unnecessary) and verb-framed.

The exclusive first person
Romanslavic has an unique feature in its grammar, which is the "exclusive" first person in the plural. It is somewhat of a "subcategory" in the first person, dividing it into an "inclusive" and an "exclusive" ways of saying "we". The conjugation allows the speaker to mark whether the use of "mje" ("we") is literal or purely symbolycal, as in the case of metonymics. Even when using first person, one can say if he is in or out of the subject by adding or excluding the morpheme "-u" from the verb. Usually it happens when the speaker is included within the subject, but not in the predicative or object of a sentence. For example:


 * The sentence "We Americans became independent in 1783." can be written these both ways:
 * Mje amerikanski ni turnemtu independenti na 1783.
 * Mje amerikanski ni turnemt independenti na 1783.
 * The first one would only be appropriate if the speaker was present by the time of American independence. If it is someone in the present who is speaking of "Americans" in a broader, national sense, then the strictly correct form would be the second.


 * Now, this difference can also be used to mark intentional distinctions between the speaker and the group in which he includes himself. Take the next example, with the sentence "We Americans became more paranoid after September 11th." It can be written like this:
 * Mje amerikanski ni turnemtu maj paranoiki dupo Septemvre 11.
 * In this case, the speaker admits he also became "more paranoid", being an inclusive case of the affirmative sentence. However, it can also be written like this:


 * Mje amerikanski ni turnemt maj paranoiki dupo Septemvre 11.
 * which means that, while the American nation as a whole is said to become more paranoid, the speaker does not include himself among those (and maybe is somewhat critic of this fact), yet he is an American. It would be appliable in the case of a sentence authored by a liberal writer for a newspaper article, for example. This exclusive first person plural can be used to stress such distinctions.

Phonetics
In Romanslavic phonetics, the Slavic, harsh sounds usually prevail over the Romance smooth soundings. There are 26 phonemes, one for each letter in the alphabet: five vowels (the same as all other Romance tongues), two semi-vowels (/j/ and /w/) and 19 consonants, all present in other Romance languages as well (the Č corresponds to Spanish ch; while C is like Italian zz; and Š is the same as Portuguese and French ch). The only exception is the thorn sound, which is more common in Germanic and Celtic languages; in Romanslavic, it is kept mainly for foreign loans and people's names such as Kaþerina (Catherine) and þomas (Thomas).

Unlike Spanish and Italian, there are no phonemes /dj/, /nj/ or /lj/. The /j/ and /w/ semi-vowels are sometimes pronounced as consonants /zh/ and /v/ in rural variants, but this consonant shift only happens altogether, i.e., people either say "Yowane" or "Zhovane" (Jovane, Romanslavic for John), both semi-vowels or both consonants in their phonetic system.

There is nasalization of vowels when followed by /n/ and /m/. It usually does not happen in elision, that is, when a word ends with a vowel and the next one begins with n or m.

Stress falls always on the next to last syllab (paroxytones) unless there is a strong consonant or consonant cluster (/t/, /r/, /c/, /st/, /sh/) in the last one, in which case they become oxytones. All other consonants are considered weak and do not move stress. There are no proparoxytones. In plurals formed by adding the morpheme "-i", the stress moves to the next syllab, as in "xeritnik" (heir) and "xeritniki" (heirs).

Vocabulary
Most of Romanslavic lexicon derives from vulgar Latin roots, especially those of East Romance branches. However, due to centuries under Russian and Ottoman rule, the language of Romanslavians has also suffered heavy influence from Slavic and Turkic tongues, which is reflected in the large amount of loans from these languages into Romanslavic vocabulary.

There is also a significant influence of French words in Romanslavic lexicon, due to the cultural ties during the language restoration between the 1860s and the 1910s. These are mostly artifitial interventions, though, and Romanslavs speakers have roughly one alternate word for every Gallicism.

For more vocabulary, check also Romanslavic lexicon and the Romanslavic phrasebook.

Romanslavic and other Romance languages
In spite of the obvious lexical and grammatical similarities between Romanslavic and other Romance languages, it is not mutually intelligible with them to any practical extent. Romanslavic speakers will usually need some formal study of basic grammar and vocabulary, before being able to understand even the simplest sentences in those languages (and vice-versa):


 * Jela fermic samper fenastre pri po pranzat. (Romanslavic)
 * Ela fecha sempre a janela antes de jantar. (Portuguese)
 * Ela fecha sempre a fiestra antes de cear. (Galician)
 * Ella cierra siempre la ventana antes de cenar. (Spanish)
 * Ella tanca sempre la finestra abans de sopar. (Catalan)
 * Lei chiude sempre la finestra prima di cenare. (Italian)
 * Ea închide întotdeauna fereastra înainte de a cina. (Romanian)
 * Elle ferme toujours la fenêtre avant de dîner/souper. (French)
 * She always shuts the window before dining.

Lord's Prayer
''Patre no, ke ec in sele, ''Sanktifikacj os vo nam ''Vinjec za ni vo regcke ''Os xacj va voluntast ''Tal kak in sele i in tera. ''Pane no todidinav dateječni sevod, ''Vardječni ofenseje neje, ''Tal kak vardamu deti ke ofensojeni. ''Nej laseječni tumbat in temptacja: ''A libereječni od mav. Amen. ''Патре но, ке ец ин селе, ''Санктификацј ос во нам ''Винјец за ни во регцке ''Ос хацј ва волунтаст ''Тал как ин селе и ин тера. ''Пане но тодидинав датејечни севод, ''Вардјечни офенсеје неје, ''Тал как вардаму дети ке офенсојени. ''Неј ласејечни тумбат ин темптацја: ''А либерејечни од мав. Амен.

Babel text
From Genesis 11:1-9: Пасот ке, по департит од Вост, јели нартадицејм планицје на тера Синјарав и акол хабитацејм.''
 * 1) Lor, in todj tera abot nemaj ke adunskj jazika i adunskj vija po gavlat.
 * 2) Pasot ke, po departit od Vost, jeli nartadicejm planicje na tera Sinjarav i akol xabitacejm.
 * 3) I dišocejm aduni za avtri: "Viniječ, xasijem briki i bruljemli ben". Briki servicejm za li kak petre, i bitum kak ciment.
 * 4) Dišocejm: "Viniječ, strojkjem za ni grad i tor avke top os arivacj na sele i turnjem celevre no nam, po ke ne asem dispersacj na todj tera.
 * 5) Lor, zapodot Domine po vedit grad i tor, ke fili Adamav strojkacejm.
 * 6) I Domine dišot: "Ac lud ec adun, i todlud ac mesimj jazika. Et ec nemaj ke incep; ora ne aberec perestrikcja po tod ke temptacej po xasit".
 * 7) Viniječ, baxjem i konxundem akol sa jazika, po ke kvalkadun ne os ponimat jazika avtreav.
 * 8) Incepav, Domine spaljot li od akol na sovrefacja terav; i cedicejm po strojkat grad.
 * 9) Jamotli, pokav etav, nam Bable, pokav akol konxundot Domine jazika todj terav i od akol Domine dispersot na todj sovrefacja terav.
 * 1) ''Лор, ин тодј тера абот немај ке адунскј јазика и адунскј вија по гавлат.
 * 1) И дишоцејм адуни за автри: "Винијеч, хасијем брики и брулјемли бен". Брики сервицејм за ли как петре, и битум как цимент.
 * 2) Дишоцејм: "Винијеч, стројкјем за ни град и тор авке топ ос аривацј на селе и турнјем целевре но нам, по ке не асем дисперсацј на тодј тера.
 * 3) Лор, заподот Домине по ведит град и тор, ке фили Адамав стројкацејм.
 * 4) И Домине дишот: "Ац луд ец адун, и тодлуд ац месимј јазика. Ет ец немај ке инцеп; ора не аберец перестрикцја по тод ке темптацеј по хасит".
 * 5) Винијеч, бахјем и конхундем акол са јазика, по ке квалкадун не ос понимат јазика автреав.
 * 6) Инцепав, Домине спалјот ли од акол на соврефацја терав; и цедицејм по стројкат град.
 * 7) Јамотли, покав етав, нам Бабле, покав акол конхундот Домине јазика тодј терав и од акол Домине дисперсот на тодј соврефацја терав.

David Copperfield
First lines from Charles Dickens' "David Copperfield":

"Sli jo er turnat po xasitmi xeroj vitav ma, o sli det poste bic okupicj kvalkludvak avtre, eti fojli devric monstrat. Po incepat ma vit uk incep ma vitav, jo perekordu ke nu (kak jo ut informacj i kredu) na venerdin, in dakdova čas nočvak. Konstotsi ke orloš incepot po stakat, i jo inceput po pjovit, simultanično."

"Сли јо ер турнат по хаситми херој витав ма, о сли дет посте биц окупицј квалклудвак автре, ети фојли девриц монстрат. По инцепат ма вит ук инцеп ма витав, јо перекорду ке ну (как јо ут информацј и креду) на венердин, ин дакдова час ночвак. Констоци ке орлош инцепот по стакат, и јо инцепут по пјовит, симултанично."

Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show. To begin my life with the beginning of my life, I record that I was born (as I have been informed and believe) on a Friday, at twelve o'clock at night. It was remarked that the clock began to strike, and I began to cry, simultaneously.

Trainspotting
First lines from Irvine Welsh's "Trainspotting": ''Šojsije vit. Šojsije lavor. Šojsije karera. Šojsije familja. Šojsije putagrac televizor, šojsije mašini po lavat, avti, kompaktj diski igratori i elektrik ovritori latav. Šojsije bon salvet, baxe kolesterol i dental sigurnost. Šojsije perepagamenti xipotekiav uk fixj interesti. Šojsije novj dom. Šojsije tej druzi. Šojsije rope diverticjav i bagaš po kombinat. Šojsije svite uk tre peci na kompre lokacjav in gama putatisicj. Šojsije XTM i po imaginat ki diavle tje e na matina domenikav. Šojsije sidat na siljon po osistit oblakitori mental, trituratori animav game shows, po stufat putamusorobed na to gubok. Šojsije po oputrefat in fin tod etav, po urinat tej ulti na miseravki asile, nemaj ke razkomfort za nini egoxiztik i xodicj ke tje genrat po remplacat ti mesim.''

Šojsije to futur.

Šojsije vit.

''Шојсије вит. Шојсије лавор. Шојсије карера. Шојсије фамилја. Шојсије путаграц телевизор, шојсије машини по лават, авти, компактј диски игратори и електрик овритори латав. Шојсије бон салвет, бахе колестерол и дентал сигурност. Шојсије перепагаменти хипотекиав ук фихј интерести. Шојсије новј дом. Шојсије теј друзи. Шојсије ропе дивертицјав и багаш по комбинат. Шојсије свите ук тре пеци на компре локацјав ин гама путатисицј. Шојсије ХТМ и по имагинат ки диавле тје е на матина доменикав. Шојсије сидат на силјон по осистит облакитори ментал, тритуратори анимав гаме шовс, по стуфат путамусоробед на то губок. Шојсије по опутрефат ин фин тод етав, по уринат теј улти на мисеравки асиле, немај ке разкомфорт за нини егохизтик и ходицј ке тје генрат по ремплацат ти месим.'' Шојсије то футур. Шојсије вит.

Mrs. Dalloway
First lines from Virginia Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway": Mm. Dalloway dišot ke er komprat flovri po jela mesim.

''Pokav Lucy abot so lavor kortacj po si. Vrati er bit kitacj od sej gonzi; čoveki Rumpelmayerav ecejet po arivat. I lor, pensot Clarissa Dalloway, ke matina - fresk kak sli deliveracj za nini na plaja.''

''Ke aloveta! Ke plongicja!''

''Мм. Далловај дишот ке ер компрат фловри по јела месим.'' ''Покав Луцј абот со лавор кортацј по си. Врати ер бит китацј од сеј гонзи; човеки Румпелмајерав ецејет по ариват. И лор, пенсот Kларисса Далловај, ке матина - фреск как сли деливерацј за нини на плаја.'' ''Ке аловета! Ке плонгицја!''