Vandalic

General information
Vandalic constitutes the surviving Romance speech of the North Africa based Vandal Kingdom. It is a Western Romance language, influenced strongly by Punic and other Afro-Asiatic languages spoken in the region.

Historical phonology
It was noted early on in the late Roman Empire that the Latin of North Africa was strongly innovating. Augustine of Hippo observed that his Latin speaking contemporaries in Africa paid no heed to the shortness or length of Latin vowels. Graffiti from the period contain broad departures from classical orthographical norms; in several inscriptions the form oze appears for Latin hodie.

Vowels
The Vandalic vowel system resembles the Sicilian vowel system, with one significant difference. Common Western Romance reduced the ten vowels of classical Latin /ă – ā, ĕ – ē, ĭ – ī, ŏ – ō, ŭ – ū/ to seven /a ɛ e i ɔ o u/. These seven vowels were at one point reduced to three in Proto-Vandalic:


 * Western Romance /a, ɔ/ > Proto-Vandalic */a/ HABET "he has" > avi; OSSE "bone" > assi
 * Western Romance /ɛ, e, i/ > Proto-Vandalic */i/ VERUM > viru; CENA > xina; VIRTUTEM > virtuθi
 * Western Romance /o, u/ > Proto-Vandalic */u/ HODIE > uzi; MURUM > muzzu

These changes happened to all vowels, whether stressed or unstressed. Proto-Vandalic had two diphthongs, */ai/ and */au/. Current Vandalic e represents proto-Vandalic */ai/; but /au/ is preserved:
 * mema "seawater" < *maima;
 * exa "wife" < *aiʃa;
 * ame "I loved < *amai < AMAVI

but
 * AMAVIT > * AMAUT > amau "he, she, it loved".

Consonants
While the inherited vowels of Vulgar Latin have been substantially reduced in the number of contrasts they display in Vandalic, the same cannot be said of the consonants. The Vandalic inventory of consonant phonemes has been substantially expanded. The results of the Vulgar Latin consonants are somewhat less regular than the vowel reduction due to a number of factors, including analogy, levelling, and borrowing from other Romance languages.

One aspect of the interplay between vowels and consonants should be noted at the outset. Proto-Vandalic, like most of the other Western Romance languages, at one time added an epenthetic weak vowel before certain groups, especially those derived from Latin words in ST-, SP-, SK- ; SPATHA > Spanish espada, French épée, etc., but Vandalic spaθa. Vandalic at one time had these vowels as well. With some exceptions among shorter words (istaz, "stand) these are consistently lost. Less consistently but frequently,  unstressed vowels at the head of a word are also lost: CABALLUM > *txivalu > xvalu.  This also affects Latin prefixing words in IN-, IM-, AD-, AL- regularly, and words in DE-, EX-, AD- less consistently.  This results in a new consonant cluster in Vandalic, which are occasionally simplified, and which can alter the effect of regular phonological changes.

Stops

 * P, standing alone at the syllable, or as part of most consonant clusters, is preserved. PISCEM "fish" > pixi; PRIMERE "press" > primiz.
 * Initial PL-, CL-, FL- but not BL- regularly become Vandalic θ-: PLUVIUM "rain" > θuviu; CLAMARE "call" > θamaz; FLOREM "flower" > θuri. In proto-Vandalic the /l/ quality of all of these sounds was lost, and they became palatized to */pj-, kj, fj-/, and /bj-/.  This change can be interrupted, however, by analogy.  PLICARE "fold" > plikaz rather than **θikaz under the analogical influence of IMPLICARE "enfold" mplikaz /m̥bli.kaʒ/.
 * Between two vowels, P becomes b: LUPUM "wolf" > lubu.


 * T has a strong tendency to palatize variously to x, or z in front of an unstressed historic E or I: NATIONEM "nation" > nazun. This process is also spread by analogy, when consonant clusters would ordinarily prevent it: CANTIONEM > kanxun; -xun is the usual reflex for the suffix -TIONEM.   When the /t/ occurs as a part of a consonant cluster, it is retaibed as /t/, even if the consonant cluster is simplified: DENS, DENTEM > dinti; NOCTEM "night" > nutti.
 * Between two vowels, T tends to become θ; TOTUM "whole" > tuθu.  Dissimilation can partially resist this regular change: ROTELLA "knee" > rudiθa; here the /t/ gets stuck at the intermediate state of /d/ to avoid **ruθiθa.  Final -t tends to get dropped outside of monosyllables.  In other positions, T is retained.


 * K (C) palatizes, almost always to x, before historic E or I: CAELUM "sky" > xilu; CENA > xina. This is also the usual outcome of -ST- in the middle of words when followed by E or I: BESTIA > bixia.
 * Between two vowels, /k/ usually becomes g. CACARE "defecate" > kagaz. This new /g/ is potentially subject to further palatalization if followed by i;  COQUINA > *CUCINA > qughina.  In the groups -ACU-, -AGU-, -OCU-, -OGU-, -UGU- it is very frequently lost: FOCUM "fire, fireplace" > fau; LACUNA "gap" > launa.
 * Elsewhere, K/C is preserved as /k/.
 * Note also the treatment of initial CL-, noted under P above.


 * QU: The /kʷ/ of words such as QUOD</SMALL> is always simplified to /k/: ka.


 * B tends to remain unchanged from the original Vulgar Latin: BONUM</SMALL> > banu, BELLUM > biθa; LABORARE</SMALL> > laburaz. Betwen two vowels, it tends to become v: BIBERE</SMALL> "drink" > biviz.


 * D has a strong tendency to palatize to /z/ when it precedes historic I: HODIE</SMALL> "today" > uzi DIEM "day" > ziya (with gender regularization and vowel dissimilation). In front of historic E this process is far less regular.
 * Between vowels, it usually becomes θ, the same as /t/: CALIDUM</SMALL> "warm" > kaliθu.


 * G shares much of its fate with C, above. Initially, before historic I or E it often appears as /ɣ/: GELUM "cold" > ghilu.  Non-initially, before an unstressed historic /i/ or /j/ it is likely to become zz:  HOMAGIUM "homage" ? umazzi.  As with C, it is liable to be dropped when it appears by itself between a and u: FAGUM "beech tree" > faua (with gender clarification).
 * In some words, most notably from MAGNUS and MAGIS, original /g/ became */j/: so MAGNUm "big" > */majnu/ > menu and MAGIS "more" > */majs/ > mes.

Aspirate

 * H is dropped, everywhere. HONOREM "honor" > unuri.  The written character h represents /ʔ/, which sometimes arises due to vowels in hiatus, but more frequently appears in non-Romance or recent borrowings: bahalu /ba.ʔa.lu/ "husband, lord, mister"; hutel  /ʔu.te:l/ "hotel".

Liquids

 * L is preserved initially and word-finally, but LL almost universally becomes θ, as does the group -LI- when the vowel is unstressed. SOL "sun" > sul; ANIMAL > animal, LEPOREM "rabbit" > lipuri; but FOLIUM> "leaf" > faθu, BELLUM "pretty" > biθu.

Vowels
Vandalic native words distinguish between four primary vowels: /a e i u/. Vowel length is not phonemic; vowels are long in open syllables and short in checked, with the exception of /e/. The language is syllable-timed rather than stress-timed. One diphthong exists, /au/. Note that the vowel /e/ is always pronounced long, as if it were a diphthong; it represents proto-Vandalic /ai/.

'O' does not exist in native words; when borrowed, it is usually realized as /u/.

Alphabet
Qi biθu isti parul a mutu! - "Loose lips sink ships."

Characters
The spelling of Vandalic is strongly phonemic and regular. Vandalic uses the Latin alphabet plus Ө, θita:

A B C D E F G H Ө I J K L M N (O) P Q R S T U V (W) X Y Z

The phonetic values of these characters do not strongly vary. A number of digraphs are used in the spelling as well.


 * A
 * Always /a/ or /a:/, depending on the syllable. The phonetic value of a hovers somewhere between /a/ and /æ/.


 * B
 * Always /b/


 * C
 * Realized as /k/, or /t͡ʃ/ before i or e. Vandalic redundantly uses three characters for /k/ sounds.  Before a, K is always written for /k/.  Before u, v, or i, Q is written for /k/.  Before consonants and word-finally, C is written for /k/.


 * D
 * Always /d/


 * E
 * Always /e:/. This sound cannot appear in an unstressed syllable and always represents a long vowel even in a checked syllable.


 * F
 * Always /f/


 * G
 * Always /g/


 * H
 * Always /ʔ/.


 * Ө
 * As /θ/ or /ð/. These sounds are in complementary distribution.  /θ/ appears word-initially or word-finally.  /ð/ appears between two vowels.  When the character is part of a consonant cluster, it will be voiceless if the stops in the cluster are voiceless, and voiced if they are not.


 * I
 * As /i/ or /i:/.


 * J
 * Always /d͡ʒ/. Uncommon.


 * K
 * Always /k/. Written before a; see note on C, above.  Note also that the written distinction between the usage of k and q gives rise to regular spelling variation in some adjectives with different forms for masculine and feminine gender: biluqu, biluka, "narrow".


 * L
 * Always /l/.


 * M
 * Always /m/.


 * N
 * Always /n/.


 * O
 * Not used in native words. When it appears, as U.


 * P
 * Always /p/.


 * Q
 * As /k/. Written before u, v, and i.  See note on C, above.


 * R
 * The R-sound of Vandalic is uvular /ʁ/ as in French or Danish. The trill /r/ exists for some speakers but is considered nonstandard.


 * S
 * As /s/.


 * T
 * As /t/.


 * U
 * As a vowel, /u/ or /u:/. Sometimes realized as /w/ when occurring between a consonant and another vowel.


 * V
 * As /v/


 * W
 * Not used in native words. As /v/.


 * X
 * Always /ʃ/.


 * Y
 * Always /j/. Exclusively a consonant.


 * Z
 * As /z/, except in verb infinitives, where it is realized as /ʒ/

Digraphs

 * AU
 * Always /aʊ/


 * CH
 * Always /x/


 * GH
 * Always /ɣ/


 * TX
 * Always /ʧ/


 * ZZ
 * Always /ʒ/

Phonotactics
The stressed syllable in Vandalic is very regular. Multisyllabic words that end in a vowel are stressed on the next to last syllable. Multisyllabic words that end in a consonant are stressed on the last syllable. The vowel e is an exception to this rule; e can only appear in a stressed syllable, so it always draws the stress accent whenever it appears.

Nouns
The grammatical cases of Latin have generally been lost, as they have been in all the other Western Romance languages. On the other hand, it inflects nouns for number, possessed status, and indefinite status. Adjectives agree in gender and number with their nouns.

Vandalic nouns are either masculine or feminine. As in other Western romance languages, the masculine gender contains the Latin neuters as well as the masculine nouns. Most words borrowed into Vandalic become masculine.

Vandalic nouns have five declensions, each of which will be obvious from the citation form. They are:


 * The first declension, with nouns ending in -a. These tend to be uniformly feminine.
 * The second declension, with nouns ending in -u. These tend to be uniformly masculine.
 * The third declension, with nouns ending in -i or -e. These may be of either gender.  Nouns in -e exhibit a number of irregularities.
 * The fourth declension, with nouns ending in -θ. These are all feminines.
 * The fifth declension, with nouns ending in a consonant other than -θ. These may be of either gender.

Gender and number
The gender of most Vandalic nouns is apparent from their citation form.

Masculine nouns take the definite article a, or al if the noun begins with a vowel: a xvalu /a ʃva.lu/ "the horse"; al ilu /al i.lu/ "the god". If this article follows a vowel, it takes the form ha /ʔa/.

Feminine nouns take the definite article ya: ya xvala /ja ʃva.la/ "the mare"; ya ilaθ /ja i.laθ/ "the goddess".

All of the three vowel declensions take a plural in -s. In the two consonant declensions, the plural is almost always -is. The definite article in the plural is always a: a xvalus "the horses\", a xvalas "the mares", a taliθis "the girls" a agafis "the wings". Nouns in -e have plurals in -as: a pile "the cap" > a pilas.

The genitive construction
Ulam a supliz - "Go to Hell!" The genitive inflection of Vandalic is essentially a possessed, rather than a possessive case. The marked form is the possessed noun rather than the possessor. Where Latin says equus patri, "the father's horse", Vandalic marks the horse rather than the father: xval a patxu (horse- POSSESSED the father), "the horse of the father". The possessor always takes a definite article in the construction, even if it is a personal name: xval a Piθru "Peter's horse". The possessed form never takes a definite article.

Rules for the formation of the possessed case are as follows:

In the first declension, drop the -a:
 * exa "wife" > ex: ex a bahalu /eːʃ a ba.ʔa.lu/ "the husband's wife".

In the second declension, drop the -u:
 * xvalu > xval: xval a Piθru /ʃval a pi.θʁu/ "Peter's horse''.

In the third declensionm, drop -i. For the few nouns in -e, turn that to -a:
 * dinti > dint; dint ya xvala /dint ja ʃva.la/ "the mare's tooth".
 * pile > pila; pila ya duzint /pi.la ja du.zint/ "the professor's (f) cap"; pila ha duzint /pi.la ʔa du.zint/ "the professor's (m) cap"

In the fourth declension, change -θ to -t:
 * beθ "house" > bet; bet ya exa /be:t ja e:ʃa/ "the wife's house"

In the fifth declension, no change:
 * sul "sun" > sul: sul a planiθi /sul a pla.ni.θi/ "the planet's sun".

Note also that the construction can be used with infinitives as a verbal noun. The infinitive takes a definite article when used in this construction as well:
 * xval a yagaz /ʃval a ja.gaʒ/ "a horse for hunting".

The indefinite construction
Ziyam i uzi - "No time like the present!" The indefinite construction affects the first, second, and third declensions of nouns. Vandalic allows three levels of definiteness. The first is definite, a noun appears with the definite articles a (m. sing, all plurals) or ya (f. sing). The definite article conveys less syntactical information than in some other Romance language.

The first level of indefiniteness is defined by the absence of the definite article. Since the definite article is required by syntax in some constructions, it is not always available.

The second level of indefiniteness is the inflected indefinite. In all of the vowel stems, the first, second, and third declensions, it is inflected the same way: by adding -m to the vowel stem. It can appear with the definite article and keep indefinite meanings, and will appear with the article when required by syntax. The meaning of the suffix is somewhat stronger than an English definite, and is often best translated as "some kind of" or "a ____ of some sort or another".


 * (ya) ziyam - "some day"
 * (a) xvalum - "some kind of horse"
 * (ya) nuttim - "one of these nights"

Plural potentiality is indicated by the suffix itself, and nouns so modified generally do not take plurals. One exception is pirsunu, "person", which distinguishes a singular pirsunum "someone or another" and pirsunumis "some people".

Verbs
The phonological changes that took place between Vulgar Latin and Proto-Vandalic tended to flatten some of the distinctions in verb inflections. As such Vandalic does not preserve some of the distinctions that generally remain in other Romance languages. The perfect tense, which in the first declension regularly was formed with an -AV- suffix, merges with the imperfect tense formed with an -AB- suffix.

Regular verbs: first conjugation

 * Infinitive: amaz
 * Present participle: amanti
 * Past participle: amaθu, amaθa

Regular verbs: second conjugation

 * Infinitive: ligiz
 * Present participle: liginti
 * Past participle: ligiθu, ligiθa

Vocabulary
Pisaθu sunu diya tfarat ya ntinxun.

John 3:16
Pirqi Ilu a mundu tantu amau, q'si a Banu su dunau, al unighiniθu, affini s' ci qiqunc criθinti innilu ni halaqira nuskam, me avira ulam ya viθa.

/piʁ.ki i.lu a mun.du tan.tu a.mau, ksi a ba.nu su du.nau al u.ni.ɣi.ni.θu, a.fi.ni.sʧi ki.kuŋk kʁi.ðin.ti i.ni.lu ni ʔa.la.ki.ʁa nus.kam, me: a.vi.ʁa u.lam ja vi.ða/

The North Wind and the Sun
Vint a Sittintxiunali i a Sul disputun di kali a du qi sun a mes farti, qunu, dripinti, pasau vaghantim in amfi a kapu. Si qunsfirun, qi iθi qi si a primizzu qi qugi a vaghanti a difixunaz a kapa sa, izzira a mes farti. Birixtau Vint a Sittintxiunali a xufaz qunu mena furia: seθe θi sulaminti qugi a xufaθu q'a vaghanti a sa kapa mes pruxanu tiniz; kandu zistau Vint a Sittintxiunali a xufaz. A Sul briθau qunu tuθu su splinduri, i statiminti kap a vaghanti fui difixunaθu. Si tal qunuxun ki fui Sul a mes farti.