Verdunian

Overview

= Setting = NOTE: The country that I'm writing about in the following text isn't really existing, it's just a country that I've created together with this language.

The language Verdunian, or La lengua Verdunîenne, is a language which is spoken on the island of Verdunia (Verdunian: Verdunîana). Verdunia is located in the Mediterranean, south of France and very close to Corsica and Sardinia. And that's why Verdunian is so close to both French and Italian. Here's some facts about Verdunia:

Official name: La Republîque Democrática de Verdunîana (The Democratic Republic of Verdunia)

Capital: Çité de la Verdunîana (The city of Verdunia)

Size: about 32 770 sq. kilometres.

Population: about 12 000 000 (12 million)

Official languages: Verdunian (70% = 8.4 million), French (15% = 1.8 million), Italian (8% = 960 000).

Official minority languages: Spanish (5% = 600 000) and Portuguese (1% = 120 000). The last 1% = Other nationalities and languages.

Type of Government: A democratic republic

Head of State and Government: The President

Branches of the Government:

1. The President - Must approve of the laws that the parliament or the ministers is suggesting. The president is the leader of Verdunia's biggest party and is elected in an election every 5 years.

2. The government - At least 3 partys has cooperate if the want to a lead Verdunia's government and the 3 partys must have more than 50% of the votes all together.

3. The parliament - The parliament has 289 members from 7 parties, never more and never less. The system for how many members each party gets in each election, is a little bit complicated. Here's how it works:

Even if the biggest party gets 50% of the votes, it only counts as 27% of 289, which is 78. And even if the second biggest party just gets 14% of the votes, it counts as 21% of 289, which is 61. So no party can get more than 78 places in the parliament. The country has this system so that no party can get too powerful. Here's how many places each party gets:

The biggest: 27% - 78 places

The 2nd biggest: 21% - 61 places

The 3rd biggest: 15% - 43 places

The 4th biggest: 13% - 38 places

The 5th biggest: 11% - 32 places

The 6th biggest: 8% - 23 places

The 7th biggest: 5% - 14 places

= Basic Grammar = Here are some grammar:

The Alphabet (L'Alphabet)
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz

The language also uses the letters: Çç Áá Éé Íí Óó Úú Àà Èè Ìì Òò Ùù Ââ Êê Îî Ôô Ûû

An "^" over the vowel means it's a long vowel, an "´" over the vowel means that the stress is on that vowel and an "`" over a letter doesn't change any pronounciation, it's just so you can tell two words apart, otherwise they would be spelled in the same way and it could be some missunderstandings.

Since "C" is pronounced either as in children or as in camera in Verdunian, you can put a cedilla (¸) under the "C" and then it's pronounced as in circus. It's called C çedîa [Che cediia] (Cedilla C).

Vowels
a as in bus

e as in bed or as in cat

i as in sit

o as in cool

u as in pull

ai as in sat

au as in cow

ou as in cool

ue as the Swedish y

eu as the French queue

eau as in the French eau

Consonants
b as in big [be]

c before e and i as in child and before a, o and u as in camera [che]

d as in do [de]

f as in foot [ef]

g before e and i as in azure and before a, o and u as in grass [zhe]

h as in hair [acha]

j as in azure [zhi]

k as in come [ka]

l as in large [el]

m as in mouse [em]

n as in not [en]

p as in pig [pe]

q as in quarter [qu]

r as in rat only further more in the front of the mouth [er]

s as in miss [es]

t as in tea [te]

v as in live [ve]

w as in winner [duble ve]

x as in axe [ix]

y as in young or as in sit [igrek]

z as in zone [zeta]

Articles
In Verdunian, nouns have gender. There are two genders, masculine and feminine. Most of the nouns that ends with a vowel is a feminine noun and most of the nouns that ends with a consonant is a masculine noun. The two genders have different words for "one". And those are une for masculine and una for feminine. For example:

Une chíen - A dog

Una chatte - A cat

They also have different words for definite articles, le for masculine and la for feminine. For example:

Le chíen - The dog

La chatte - The cat

When the noun starts with a vowel, the le and the la is slurred togther with the word. For example:

Le + alphabet - L'alphabet

La + animale - L'animale

When theres more than one noun, you don't use le or la, instead you use los. And if the noun ends with a consonant you add -es at the end and if it ends with a vowel you add -s. For example:

Los chíenes - The dogs

Los chattes - The cats

Pronouns
Jeu - I

Me - Me

Meyênna - Myself

Tu - You

Tuyênna - Yourself

Ile - He

Ela - She

On - It

Vis - We

Nis - You

Ióro - They

Possessive Pronouns
Mon (Maskuline words, une) Ma (Feminine words, una) - My

Ton (m) Ta (f) - Your

Son (m) Sa (f) - His, Her

Vitré - Our

Nitré - Yours

Ieur - Their

Possessive pronouns for more than one object:

Mes - My

Tes - Your

Ses - His, Her

Visé - Our

Nisé - Yours

Ieurs - Their

Adjectives
In Verdunian, the adjective comes after the noun. So it's not une blanco chíen, it's une chíen blanco. But if you want to say two days, you don't say giorges due, you say like in English, due giorges. Here's a list of some common adjectives:

Blondé - Blonde

Brunetté - Brown-Haired

Ruberesé - Red-Haired

Noiresé - Black-Haired

Blancesé - White-Haired

Grezesé - Gray-Haired

Belle - Beautiful, Pretty

Ilî - Ugly

Adôreble - Adorable

Inteligente - Intelligent, Smart

Amúsante - Funny, Fun

Merveioso - Wonderful

Buona - Good

Terrîble - Terrible

Horrîble - Horrible

Gióven - Young

Viue - Old

Neauvo - New (used for not living things, like cars and books)

Neauvelle - New (used for living things like humans and animals)

Verbs
Verbs in Verdunian are conjugated after which person who does it. Most of the verbs are conjugated after a special pattern and all of those verbs ends with -re and they're called regular verbs or -re verbs. When you conjugate a verb, you remove the -re and the vowel that comes before it and then you add some other letters. For example I will use the verb parlare, which means to speak. Here's how you conjugate it:

Jeu parles

Tu parlio

Ile/Ela/On parlé

Vis parlesa

Nis parlite

Ióro parlas

Non-Regular Verbs
Not all verbs are regular verbs. Infact, some of the most common verbs aren't regular. Here I will show you how the verbs Esteres (To Be), Aveur (To Have), Fera (To Do) and Prendese (To Take). Here's how to conjugate them:

Esteres (To Be)
Jeu souno

Tu esio

Ile/Ela/On esse

Vis etênne

Nis seite

Ióro estias

Aveur (To Have)
Jeu ai (J'ai)

Tu are (T'are)

Ile/Ela/On avre

Vis agione

Nis eure

Ióro eno

Fera (To Do)
Jeu faccio

Tu fais

Ile/Ela/On fire

Vis fasa

Nis farite

Ióro ferez

Prendese (To Take)
Jeu prendo

Tu prenne

Ile/Ela/On prende

Vis presa

Nis prito

Ióro prendas

The past time
Here I will show you what you say when you want to say that something has happened.

Regular verbs has a special pattern to follow. I will show you with the verb parlare. Like when you conjugate a verb by person, you remove the -re plus the vowel that's in front of it. When it's a regular verb you say like ''J'ai parly (I have spoken). You just add -y. When it's a non-regular it's a little harder. Like when you conjugate it by person, it turns into a whole new word. Here's some common non-regular verbs:

Esteres - To be

J'ai êt - I've been

Aveur - To have

J'ai yue - I've had

Fera - To do

J'ai feçue - I've done

Prendese - To take

J'ai prenzé - I've taken

= Dictionary =

Here's a (long) list of words in Verdunian.

Greetings
Bounamâtin - Good morning

Bounagiore - Good day

Bounasera - Good evening

Bounanoche - Good night

Salut - Hi

Ciao - Bye

Adieu - Bye

Colours
Blu - Blue

Rûberio - Red

Jeauné - Yellow

Verde - Green

Orange - Orange (Colour)

Rôsa - Pink

Márron - Brown

Gri - Gray

Noir - Black

Blanco - White

Numbers
Zeró - 0| Une - 1| Deu - 2| Trei - 3| Quatre - 4| Cinque - 5| Seix - 6| Setó - 7| Huite - 8| Nové - 9| Dieci - 10| Uneuze - 11| Deuze - 12| Treize - 13| Quatreuze - 14| Cinqueze - 15| Seixeuze -16| Setóze - 17| Huiteuze - 18| Novéze - 19| Viente - 20| Viente-un - 21| Viente-due - 22| ... Treinte - 30| Quatrente - 40| Cinquente - 50| Seixente - 60| Setóente - 70| Huitente - 80| Novénte - 90| Cento - 100| Cento-un - 101| Cento-due - 102 ... Centoviente - 120| Centoviente-un - 121| ... Mille - 1000| Milión - 1 000 000| Miliárd - 1 000 000 000|

Númera - Number

Animals
Una animale - An animal

Una chatte - A cat

Une chíen - A dog

Una lapîn - A rabbit

Una serpente - A snake

Une caíva - A guinea pig

Une amstere - A hamster

Una pesce - A fish

Une perucce - A parakeet

Une lión - A lion

Une tigre - A tiger

Weekdays
Une giore - A day

Lunagiore - Monday

Maregiore - Tuesday

Mercegiore - Wednesday

Jogiore - Thursday

Vendegiore - Friday

Samigiore - Saturday

Domegiore - Sunday

Months
Una mese - A month

Gianvier - January

Febrier - February

Marze - Mars

Avrile - April

Magio - May

Jiuno - June

Julio - July

Agosto - August

Septembre - September

Octobre - October

Novembre - November

Decembre - December

Seasons
Una stágione - Season

Prîmavera - Spring

Estáte - Summer

Autôme - Autumn, Fall

Hinvéro - Winter

Foods
Colazion - Breakfast

Dejúne - Lunch

Dînner - Dinner

Norituere - Food

Juenî - Meal

Vegetables
Una legúme - A vegetable

Una tomate - A tomato

Una cotriole - A cucumber

Mez - Corn

Una broccoli - A broccoli

Une onion - An onion

Laitue - Lettuce

Una cedanne - A celery

Une carót - A carrot

Una cavólfìre - A cauliflower

Fruits
Una fruita - A fruit

Una pômme - An apple

Una pere - A pear

Una banana - A banana

Una apelsînne - An orange

Una limóne - A lemon

Una frazo - A strawberry

Una pescé - A peach

Una melóne - A melon

Una çeurize - A cherry

Una cêpa - A grape

Una pruene - A plum

Meal Courses
Aperítio - Appetizer

Entrése - Main Course

Dessert - Dessert

Main Courses
Poule - Chicken

Beuf - Beef

Porque - Pork

Steque - Steak

Pesce - Fish

Desserts
Una geteau - A cake

Una pâie - A pie

Una mufinne - A cupcake

Una coqîe - A cookie

Tiramisú - Tiramisu

Parfait - Parfait

Glaçe - Ice Cream

= Example text =

A letter in Verdunian
Here's a letter written in Verdunian from the imaginated Michael Andersson from Sweden.

Salut!

Mon nom esse Michael y jeu souno 14 (quatreze) anes. Jeu vires aì Suezia, aì una çité qui apellé Uppsala.

J'ai une frare, Johan, y una sorêlla, Sofia. J'ai ausî une pader y una mader. Le nom de mon pader esse Olof y le nom de ma mader esse Katrin. J'ai ausî une chíen, Lukas.

Mes interestes estias vodere mes coupaines, reguardere de la têle y gioure de l'ordenacer. Mais jeu pas aimes fera de la piano, rangere ma camâre o fera mes devoares.

Ile esse toute de me.

Adieu!

Michael Andersson

Translation
Hi!

My name is Michael Andersson and I'm 14 years old. I live in Sweden, in a town called Uppsala.

I have a brother, Johan and a sister, Sofia. I also have a dad and a mum. My dad's name is Olof and my mum's name is Katrin. I also have a dog, Lukas.

My interests are beeing with my freinds, watch TV and play on the computer. But i don't like to play the piano, clean my room or do my homeworks.

That was everything about me.

Bye!

Michael Andersson.

Comparison
Since Verdunian is a Romance language, it has many similarities with the other Romance languages, especially French and Italian. Here is a santence in the biggest Romance languages, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian plus Verdunian so you can see the similarities.

One language is not enough. (English)

Uma língua não é suficiente. (Portuguese)

Un idioma no es suficiente. (Spanish)

Une langue ne suffit pas. (French)

Una lingua non è sufficiente. (Italian)

O limbă nu este de ajuns. (Romanian)

Una lengua pas esse sufice. (Verdunian)

As you can see it has many similarities with almost everyone of those.

Countries and Nationalities
Here's all the countries in Europe and some major countries around the world.

La Verdunîana - Verdunia

Verdunîenne - Verdunian language or people

L'Içelânde (f) - Iceland

Içelândaise - Icelandic language or people

La Norvîe - Norway

Norvîenne - Norwegian language or people

La Suezia - Sweden

Suezîenne - Swedish language or people

Le Danemark - Denmark

Danaise - Danish language or people

Le Fînland - Finland

Finoâse - Finnish language or people