Iermansc 1.0

=Introduction=

Iermánsc is a Romance language which developed in an alternate timeline in which the Romans conquered the area we know as southern Germany in the first century A.D. The subsequent Romanized German culture lasted long after the breakdown of the Empire several centuries later. The language has a strong family relationship to Romansh, Venetian, and Old French (its closest Romance neighbors), with a sense of phonological, lexical and grammatical flavor from Old High German. One major repercussion of extensive long-term contact between Germanic and Romance is that the language has radically shifted towards the use of simplified grammatical particles and endings at the expense of rich inflected forms inherited from Latin.

Please note that this is a work in progress.

Name
The name "Iermánsc" is cognate with our word German, from GERMĀNĬCE. It evolved through Old Iermánsc /ʒer.mɔnʧe/ into the modern from /jɛr.mɔnʃ/.

=Phonology= There are 8 vowel sounds / i u e ǝ o ɛ ɔ a / and 20 consonants / p b t d k g f v θ ð s x ʃ ʧ m n l w j r / including the semivowels /w/ and /j/.

=Orthography= The alphabet consists of 21 letters, developed from the Roman alphabet with the addition of two runic letters:

Aa Bb Cc Dd Ðð Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Rr Ss Tt Þþ Uu Vv The vowels can also be marked for irregular syllabic stress. All words are stressed on the first syllable unless otherwise marked. The stressed vowels are marked á é í ó ú. The above graphemes represent the following sounds:

a	/a/ in most cases, /ɔ/ before a nasal, /ǝ/ in unstressed final syllables au      /ɔ/ b 	/b/ c 	/k/ in most cases, /ʧ/ before e or i d 	/d/ ð 	/ð/ e 	/e/ or /ɛ/, /ǝ/ in unstressed final syllables, le and ne f 	/f/ g 	/g/ h 	/x/ i 	/i/ in most cases, /j/ when in combination with another vowel l 	/l/ m	/m/ n 	/n/ in most cases, /ŋ/ before g o 	/o/ or /ɔ/ p 	/p/ r 	/r/ s 	/s/ in most cases, /ʃ/ before p or t sc	/ʃ/ sch     /ʃk/ t 	/t/ þ	/θ/ u	/u/ in most cases, /w/ in combination with another vowel v 	/v/

=Grammar=

Articles
There are three definite articles: il (m.sg.), la (f.sg.) and le (pl.) and three corresponding indefinite articles in, na and ne. The feminine and plural articles may elide to l' and n', respectively, before vowels (though not before i and u as /j/ and /w/).

il han "the dog" /il xɔn/ le hane "the dogs" /lǝ xɔnǝ/ l'ahua "the water" /laxwǝ/ l'ahue "the waters" /laxwǝ/

na iata "a cat" /na jatǝ/ ne iate "some cats" /nǝ jatǝ/ in om "a man" /in om/ n'one "some men" /nonǝ/

Nouns
Nouns come in two genders, masculine and singular. Most masculine nouns end in a consonant and add -e in the plural. Most feminine nouns end in -a in singular and -e in the plural.

il dent "the tooth" /il dɛnt/ le dente "the teeth"/lǝ dɛntǝ/ na stela "a star" /na ʃtelǝ/ ne stele "some stars" /nǝ ʃtelǝ/

There are some complications, however. There are many alternations in both consonants and vowels between certain masculine plurals. The most common consonant changes are that singular final f þ h  become v ð i (/j/) in the plural. The common vowel alternations are o u become e i in the plural. The following examples have one of each kind.

in foh "a fire" /in fox/ ne feie "some fires" /nǝ fejǝ/ il luf "the wolf" /il luf/ le live "the wolves" /lǝ livǝ/

Some singular words also alternate the final vowel and consonant.

il proveþ "the prophet" /il provǝθ/ le provðe "the prophets" /lǝ provðǝ/ in amih "a friend" /in ɔmix/ n'amie "some friends" /nɔmjǝ/ il iuven "the boy" /il juvǝn/ le iuvne "the boys" /lǝ juvnǝ/

There are also some completely irregular nouns which don’t obey the general rules.

la man "the hand" /la mɔn/ (f. irregular singular) le mane	"the hands" /lǝ mɔnǝ/ in om "a man" /in om/ n’one "some men" /nonǝ/ (m. irregular plural)

Personal Pronouns
There are eight subject pronouns.

iu "I" /ju/ ti "you" /ti/ el "he" /el/ ela "her" /elǝ/ nu "we" /nu/ vu "y'all/you (formal sg.)" /vu/ ele "they" /elǝ/ in "one" /in/

There are seven direct object pronouns.

me "me" /me/ te "you" /te/ le "him/it/they" /le/ la "her/it" /la/ se "him/her/their self/selves" /se/ nu "us" /nu/ vu "y'all/you (formal sg.)" /vu/

And four indirect object pronouns.

mi "to me" /mi/ ti "to you" /ti/ li "to him/her" /li/ le "to them" /lǝ/

Possessive Pronouns
Each of the five possessive pronouns has a form for m.sg., f.sg., and pl.

mun "my" /mun/ mia "my" /mja/ mie "my" /mje/

tun "your" /tun/ tua "your" /twa/ tue "your" /twe/

sun "his/her/its/their" /sun/ sua "his/her/its/their" /swa/ sue "his/her/its/their" /swe/

nuster "our" /nuʃtǝr/ nustra "our" /nuʃtrǝ/ nustre "our" /nuʃtrǝ/

vuster "y'all's" /vuʃtǝr/ vustra "y'all's" /vuʃtrǝ/ vustre "y'all's" /vuʃtrǝ/

Demonstrative Pronouns
There are two demonstrative pronuns.

huest "this" /xwɛʃt/ huesta "this" /xwɛʃtǝ/ hueste "this" /xwɛʃtǝ/

huel "that" /xwel/ huela "that" /xwelǝ/ huele "that" /xwelǝ/

Interrogative Pronouns
hui "who" /xwi/ de hui "whose" /de xwi/ hue "what" /xwe/ por hue "why" /por xwe/ huant "when" /xwɔnt/ come "how" /komǝ/ huante "how much" /xwɔntǝ/ hual "which" /xwal/

Adjectives
Adjectives differ in how they agree with nouns. Some adjectives have distinct forms for all four number/gender combinations.

il nof asen "the new donkey" /il nof asǝn/ le neve asne "the new donkeys" /lǝ nevǝ asnǝ/ la nova havra "the new goat" /la novǝ xavrǝ/ le nove havre "the new goats" /lǝ novǝ xavrǝ/

Others distinguish only m.sg., f.sg. and pl.

in grant om "a big man" /in grɔnd om/ ne grande one "some big men" /nǝ grɔndǝ onǝ/ na granda fiena	"a big woman" /na grɔndǝ fjɛnǝ/ ne grande fiene	"some big women" /nǝ grɔndǝ fjɛnǝ/ il blau ciel "the blue sky" /il blɔ ʧjɛl/ le blaue ciele "the blue skies" /lǝ blɔwǝ ʧjɛlǝ/ la blaua ahua "the blue water" /la blɔwǝ axwǝ/ le blaue ahue "the blue waters" /lǝ blɔǝ axwǝ/

in fort iuven "a strong boy" /in fort juvǝn/ na forða iuvna "a strong girl" /na forta juvnǝ/ ne forðe iuvne "some strong children" /nǝ forðǝ juvnǝ/

Comparison
Regular comparison is with mai.

grant "big" /grɔnd/ mai grant hue "bigger than" /maj grɔnd xwe/ il mai grant "biggest" /il maj grɔnd/ pausc "small" /pɔʃ/ mai pausc hue "smaller than" /maj pɔʃ/ il mai pausc "smallest" /il maj pɔʃ/

Bon and mal have irregular comparatives.

bon "good" /bon/ liur "better" /ljur/ il liur "best" /il ljur/ mal "bad" /mal/ piur "worse" /pjur/ il piur "worst" /il pjur/

Prepositions
Note the preposition for "to" has two forms, the first before consonants and the other before vowels.

a/að "to" /a að/ abasc "below/downstairs" /abǝsc/ contra "against" /kontrǝ/ cun "with" /kun/ davant "in front of" /davǝnt/ de "from" /de/ destra "right" /deʃtrǝ/ entre "between" /entrǝ/ en "in" /en/ en hasa "at home" /en xasǝ/ on "sur" /sur/ sen "without" /sen/ senstra "left" /senʃtrǝ/

Conjunctions
e "and" /e/ o "or" /o/ ma "but" /ma/ si "if" /si/ hue "that, which" /xwe/

Numbers
The cardinal numbers are as follows.

nil "zero" /nil/

in ina "one" /in inǝ/ du "two" /du/ tre "three" /tre/ huat "four" /xwat/ huensc "five" /xwɛnʃ/ sesc "six" /seʃ/ seþ "seven" /seθ/ oht "eight" /oxt/ nof "nine" /nof/ desc "ten" /deʃ/

indesc "eleven" /indeʃ/ dudesc "twelve" /duðeʃ/ tredesc "thirteen" /treðeʃ/ huadesc "fourteen" /xwaðeʃ/ huendesc "fifteen" /xwendeʃ/ seðesc "sixteen" /sedeʃ/ seþ e desc "seventeen" /seθ e deʃ/ oht e desc "eighteen" /oxt e deʃ/ nof e desc "nineteen" /nof e deʃ/ vente "twenty" /ventǝ/

in e vente "twenty-one" /in e ventǝ/ du e vente "twenty-two" /du e ventǝ/ trenta "thirty" /trentǝ/ huaðránta "fourty" /xwað.rantǝ/ huenénta "fifty" /xwen.entǝ/ sescánta "sixty" /se.ʃantǝ/ seðánta "seventy" /seð.antǝ/ ohtónta "eighty" /oxt.ontǝ/ nonánta "ninety" /non.ontǝ/ cent "one hundred" /ʧɛnt/

du cente "two hundred" /du ʧɛntǝ/ tre cente "three hundred" /tre ʧɛntǝ/ huat cente "four hundred" /xwat ʧɛntǝ/ mil "one thousand" /mil/

du mil tre cente seþ e vente "two thousand three hundred twenty-seven" /du mil tre ʧɛntǝ seθ e ventǝ/

The ordinal numbers are irregular through ten and completely regularly formed from the cardinals thereafter.

prem prema "first" /prem premǝ/ siunt "second" /sjunt/ tersc "third" /terʃ/ huart "fourth" /xwart/ huent "fifth" /xwent/ sest "sixth" /seʃt/ seten "sevent" /setǝn/ ohtaf "eigth" /oxtǝf/ non "ninth" /non/ deim "tenth" /dejm/

indescen "eleventh" /indeʃǝn/ venten  "twentieth" /ventǝn/ oht e nonántan "ninety eighth" /oxt e non.antǝn/

Regular Verbs
Infinitives consist of a stressed stem plus a thematic vowel, a or e, which determine the two main conjugation classes. The present participle/gerund is formed by adding nt to the stem and stressing the final vowel. The past participle is formed by adding þ to the infinitive. The imperative singular is formed by stressing the final vowel. The imperative plural is formed by stressing the final vowel and adding þ.

a hanta "to sing" /a xɔntǝ/ hantánt "singing" /xɔnt.ant/ hantaþ "sung" /xɔntǝθ/ hantá "sing!" /xɔnt.a/ hantáþ "sing! (pl)" /xɔnt.aθ/

a save  "to know" /a savǝ/ savént "knowing" /sav.ent/ saveþ "known" /savǝθ/ savé  "know!" /a sav.e/ savéþ  "know! (pl)" /sav.eθ/

Simple Present
Most verbs are extremely regular in the simple present, though the first person singular often ends with a different consonant than the stem.

iu hant "i sing" /ju xɔnt/ ti hanta "you sing" /ti xɔntǝ/ el hanta "he sings" /el xɔntǝ/ nu hantan "we sing" /nu xɔntǝn/ vu hantaþ "y'all/you sing" /xɔntǝθ/ ele hantan "they sing" /elǝ xɔntǝn/

iu saf "I know" /ju saf/ ti save "you know" /ti savǝ/ el save "he knows" /el savǝ/ nu saven "we know" /nu savǝn/ vu saveþ "y'all know" /vu savǝθ/ el saven "they know" /el savǝn/

Present Continuous
The present continuous is formed with sta + Present Participle.

nu stan hantánt "we are singing" /nu ʃta xɔnt.ant/ ele stan hantánt "they are singing" /elǝ ʃtan xɔnt.ant/ ela sta savént "she is knowing" /elǝ ʃta sav.ent/ ti sta savént "you are knowing" /ti ʃta sav.ǝnt/

Simple Past
The simple past often changes the stress to the thematic syllable, and uses a different set of endings than the simple present.

iu hantá "i sang" /ju xɔn.ta/ ti hantásc "you sang" /ti xɔn.taʃ/ el hantá "he sang" /el xɔn.ta/ nu hantán "we sang" /nu xɔn.tan/ vu hantásc "y'all sang" /vu xɔn.taʃ/ ele hantán "they sang" /elə xɔn.tan/

iu savé "i knew" /ju sa.ve/ ti savésc "you knew" /ti sa.veʃ/ el savé "he knew" /el sa.ve/ nu savén "we knew" /nu sa.ven/ vu savésc "y'all knew" /vu sa.veʃ/ ele savén "they knew" /elə sa.ven/

Sometimes, the simple past changes in the stem:

a dice "to say" /a diʧə/

iu disc "i say" /ju diʃ/ ti dice "you say" /ti diʧə/ el dice "he says" /el diʧə/

iu discé "i said" /iu di.ʃe/ ti discésc "you said" /diʃ.eʃ/ nu discén "she said" /di.ʃen/

Perfect
Form the perfect with the present form of ave + Past Participle.

ti af hantaþ "you have sung" /ti af xɔntəθ/ ela af hantaþ "she has sung" /elə af xɔntəθ/ iu af saveþ "i have known" /ju af savəθ/ nu aven saveþ "we have known" /nu avən savəθ/

Pluperfect
Form the pluperfect tense with the past of ave + Past Participle.

vu avésc hantaþ "y'all had sung" /ti av.eʃ xɔntəθ/ ele avén hantaþ "they had sung" /elə av.en xɔntəθ/ iu avé saveþ "i had known" /ju av.e savəθ/ nu avén saveþ "we had known" /nu av.en savəθ/

Future
Form the future with the present form of vole + Infinitive.

nu volen hanta "we will sing" /nu volǝn xɔntǝ/ vu voleþ hanta "ya'll will sing" /vu volǝθ xɔntǝ/ iu vel save "i will know" /iu vel savǝ/ ti vol save "you will know" /ti vol savǝ/

Future Perfect
Form the future perfect with vole + ave + Past Participle.

nu volen ave hantaþ "we will have sung" /nu volǝn avǝ xɔntǝþ/ ele volen ave hantaþ "they will have sung" /elǝ volǝn ave xɔntǝþ/ ela vol ave saveþ "she will have known" /elǝ vol avǝ savǝþ/ ti vol ave saveþ "you will have known" /ti vol avǝ savǝþ/

Subjunctive
A-class and E-class verb subjunctives are highly regular.

iu hantáse "may i sing" /ju xɔn.tasə/ ti hantáse "may you sang" /ti xɔn.tasə/ el hantáse "may he sang" /el xɔn.tasə/ nu hantásen "may we sang" /nu xɔn.tasən/ vu hantáseþ "may y'all sang" /vu xɔn.tasəθ/ ele hantásen "may they sang" /elə xɔn.tasən/

iu savése "may i knew" /ju sa.vesə/ ti savése "may you knew" /ti sa.vesə/ el savése "may he knew" /el sa.vesə/ nu savésen "may we knew" /nu sa.vesən/ vu savéseþ "may y'all knew" /vu sa.vesəθ/ ele savésen "may they knew" /elə sa.vesən/

Irregular Verbs
Some of the most commonly used verbs are irregular.

Esce and Sta
Esce and sta are both used for "to be". Esce is the usual verb denoting essential qualities.

að esce "to be" /að eʃǝ/ esent "being" /esǝnt/ esen "been" /esǝn/ esc "be!" /eʃ/ este "be! (pl.)" /eʃtǝ/

iu sun "i am" /ju sun/ ti esc "you are" /ti e/ ela esc "she is" /el eʃ/ nu sun "we are" /nu sun/ vu esc "y'all are" /vu eʃ/ ele sun "they are" /elə sun/

iu fui "i was" /ju fwi/ ti fuiste "you were" /ti fwiʃtə/ ela fui "she were" /el fwi/ nu fuin "we were" /nu fwin/ vu fuiste "y'all were" /vu fwiʃtə/ ele fuin "they were" /elə fwin/

Sta has connotations of expressing location in time and space, and is also used as an auxiliary.

a sta "to be" /a ʃta/ stant "being" /ʃtant/ staþ "been" /ʃtaθ/ sta "be!" /ʃta/ staþ "be! (pl.)" /ʃtaθ/

iu stun "i am" /ju ʃtun/ ti sta "you are" /ti ʃta/ el sta "he is" /el ʃta/ nu stan "we are" /nu ʃtan/ vu staþ "y'all are" /vu ʃtaθ/ ele stan "they are" /elə ʃtan/

iu stai "i was" /ju ʃtaj/ ti stasc "you were" /ti ʃtaʃ/ ela stai "she was" /el ʃtai/ nu stan "we were" /nu ʃtan/ vu stasc "y'all were" /vu ʃtaʃ/ ele stan "they were" /elə ʃtan/

Ave
Ave is used as both "to have" and used in tense construction.

að ave "to have" /að avǝ/ avént "having" /av.ɛnt/ aveþ "had" /avǝθ/ avé "have!" /av.e/ avéþ "have! (pl)" /av.eθ/

iu af "i have" /ju af/ ti af "you have" /ti af/ el af "he has" /el af/ nu aven "we have" /nu avǝn/ vu aveþ "y'all have" /vu avǝθ/ ele aven "they have" /elǝ avǝn/

iu avé "i had" /ju av.e/ ti avésc "you had" /ti av.eʃ/ ela avé "she had" /elǝ av.e/ nu avén "we had" /nu av.en/ vu avésc "y'all had" /vu av.eʃ/ ele avén "they had" /elǝ av.en/

Vole
Vole is used for "to will" and as an auxiliary.

a vole "to will" /a volǝ/ volént "willing" /vol.ent/ voleþ "willed" /volǝθ/ volé "will!" /vol.e/ voléþ "will! (pl.)" /vol.eθ/

iu vel "i will" /ju vel/ ti vol "you will" /ti vol/ el vol "he will" /el vol/ nu volen "we will" /nu volǝn/ vu voleþ "y'all will" /vu volǝθ/ ele volen "they will" /elǝ volǝn/

iu volé "i willed" /iu vol.e/ ti volésc "you willed" /ti vol.eʃ/ el volé "he willed" /el vol.e/ nu volén "we willed" /nu vol.en/ vu volésc "y'all willed" /vu vol.eʃ/ ele volén "they willed" /elǝ vol.ern/

Da
Da is a common irregular verb.

a da "to give" /a da/ dant "giving" /dɔnt/ daþ "given" /daθ/ da "give!" /da/ daþ "give! (pl.)" /daθ/

iu dun "i give" /ju dun/ ti da "you give" /ti da/ el da "he gives" /el da/ nu dan "we give" /nu dan/ vi daþ "y'all give" /vi daθ/ ele dun "they give" /elǝ dun/

iu deðe "i gave" /ju deðǝ/ ti deðesc "you gave" /ti deðǝʃ/ ela deðe "she gave" /elǝ deðǝ/ nu deðen "we gave" /nu deðǝn/ vu deðesc "y'all gave" /vu deðǝʃ/ ele deðen "they gave" /elǝ deðǝn/

=Vocabulary=

Comparison with other Romance languages
=Derivation from Latin=

Phonological Development
Vowels which were stressed in Latin tended to develop similarly to the Western Romance varieties.

Ī > /i/ Ē,I > /e/ E > /ɛ/ A,Ā > /a/ O > /ɔ/ Ō,U > /o/ Ū > /u/ OE</tt> > /e/ AE</tt> > /ɛ/ AU</tt> > /aw/

/i/ > /e/ before a nasal /e/ > /ɛ/ before a consonant cluster /ɛ/ > /jɛ/ sporadically in open syllables /o/ > /u/ /u/ > /y/

The umlaut process started after these changes.

/u/ > /y/ before /i/ or /j/ in the next syllable /o/ > /ø/ before /i/ or /j/ in the next syllable /ɔ/ > /æ/ before /i/ or /j/ in the next syllable

Followed shortly by unrounding of front-rounded vowels and other changes.

/y/ > /i/ /ø/ > /e/ /æ/ > /ɛ/ /a/ > /ɔ/ before a nasal /aw/ > /ɔ/

Final vowels other than /a/ and /i/ are lost.

Final /a/ > /ǝ/ Final /i/ > /e/ > /ǝ/

Final consonants / m,s,t / are lost.

There were some general consonant changes.

/kt/ > /xt/ /mn/ > /n/ or /m/ depending on stress /ns/ > /s/ /kw/ > /xw/ initially and /k/ elsewhere (but /xw/ here as well in some common words) /ks/ > /ʃ/ /CH/ > /k/ /sk/ > /ʃ/ or /ʃk/ /st/ > /ʃt/ /sp/ > /ʃp/

Lenition happens between vowels or between a vowel and /r/:

C,G</tt> > /ɣ/ P,B,F</tt> > /v/ T,D</tt> > /ð/

Double or "geminate" consonants are reduced to a single consonant. Notably, reflexes of geminates do not undergo the above lenition process (i.e. GATTUM</tt> /jat/, not /*jaθ/).

There is also a palatalization process.

/t/ > /ʧ/ before /j/ /k/ > /ʧ/ before a front vowel or /j/ /g/ > /ʒ/ before a front vowel or /j/

Later,

/k g/ > /x/ before /a/ /ʒ/ > /j/

Final consonants have a strong tendenacy to devoice:

/b/ > /p/ /d/ > /t/ /ɣ/ > /h/ /v/ > /f/ /ð/ > /θ/ /ʧ/ > /ʃ/

Between vowels,

/ɣ/ > /j/ mostly, sometimes /i/ or lost altogether

Morphological Development
Articles developed as reflexes of ILLE,ILLI,ILLA,ILLE</tt> and ŪNU,ŪNI,ŪNA,ŪNE</tt>.

Nouns underwent a shift of stress to the first syllable, shortening words and often obliterating multiple syllables in longer words. The accusative singular and nominative plural form the bases for most words. Historically the final /e/ of the feminine plural would've been lost, but it was retained analogically to the masculine plural, and later reduced to schwa along with most final vowels. The Latin nominative plural ending I</tt> > /ǝ/ became generalized on the vast majority of nouns, yielding some novel forms.

LUPUM</tt> > il luf /il luf/ "the wolf" LUPI</tt> > le live /lǝ livǝ/ "the wolves" NOCTEM</tt> > la noht /la noxt/ "the night" *NOCTI</tt> > le nohte /lǝ noxtǝ/ "the nights" FEMINA</tt> > la fiena /la fjenǝ/ "the woman" *FEMINI</tt> > le fiene /lǝ fjenǝ/ "the women"

Though the analytic verbal system was reduced greatly from Latin, the imperative, present perfect, past simple and subjunctive all feature intact ancestral stress patterns. In the present simple, past perfect and the infinitive all stress shifts to the first syllable. The <tt>R</tt> of the Latin infinitive has been lost entirely.