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 Germanic. 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 continual progress.

=Phonology= Iermánsc contains 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 tʃ m n l w j r / including the semivowels /w/ and /j/.

=Orthography= The alphabet of Iermánsc 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. Stressed vowels are á é í ó ú (initial syllables are stressed by default and therefore these are never capitalized). The above graphemes represent the following sounds:

a	/a/ in most cases, /ɔ/ before a nasal, /ǝ/ in unstressed syllables au      /ɔ/ b 	/b/ c 	/k/ in most cases, /ʧ/ before e or i, /ʃ/ in the digraph sc d 	/d/ ð 	/ð/ e 	/e/ or /ɛ/, /ǝ/ in some unstressed syllables f 	/f/ g 	/g/ h 	/x/ i 	/i/ in most cases, /j/ when in combination with another vowel, /ǝ/ in some unstressed syllables 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 singular final f þ h  become v ð i(/j/) in the plural. While the common vowel alternations are o u become e i in the plural. The following examples have one two alternations in each word.

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 ɔmǝx/ n'amie "some friends" /nɔmjǝ/

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

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

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

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/ in forsc iuven "a strong boy" /il forʃ juvǝn/ na forca iuvna "a strong girl" /la forʧǝ juvnǝ/ ne ferce iuvne "some strong boys/children" /lǝ ferʧǝ juvnǝ/ ne force iuvne "some strong girls" /lǝ forʧǝ/ juvnǝ/

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

in grand 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/ Some adjectives have a single form.

il blau ciel "the blue sky" /il blɔ ʧjɛl/ le blau ciele "the blue skies" /lǝ blɔ ʧjɛlǝ/ la blau ahua "the blue water" /la blɔ axwǝ/ le blau ahue "the blue waters" /lǝ blɔ axwǝ/

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 object pronouns.

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

Present Tense
Regular verbs generally belong either the a-class or the e-class. A-class verbs inflect mostly regularly in the present indicative.

a hanta "to sing" /a xɔntǝ/

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/

E-class verbs inflect very similarly.

a save  "to know" /a savǝ/

iu saf "I know" /ju dix/ ti save "you know" /ti diʧǝ/ el save "he knows" /el diʧǝ/ nu saven "we know" /nu diʧǝn/ vu saveþ "y'all know" /vu diʧǝθ/ el saven "they know" /el diʧǝn/

Simple Past Tense
A-class verb simple past is highly regular.

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

E-class verb simple past is formed similarly.

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

Future Tense
All verbs form the future with the correct form of vole + Infinitive.

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

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

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

iu stun "i am" /ju ʃtun/ ti sta "you are" /ti ʃtan/ 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/

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

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

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