Castelan language: Difference between revisions

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|latd  =  | latm  = | latNS  =  <!-- latitude degrees/minutes/direction -->
|latd  =  | latm  = | latNS  =  <!-- latitude degrees/minutes/direction -->
|longd =  | longm = | longEW =  <!-- longitude degrees/minutes/direction -->
|longd =  | longm = | longEW =  <!-- longitude degrees/minutes/direction -->
|ethnicity    = Azmaran people
|ethnicity    = Castelan people
|speakers      = 8 million L1
|speakers      = 8 million L1
|signers      =  
|signers      =  
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==Classification==
==Classification==
==Phonology==
==Phonology==
Castelan has a phonology which, while somewhat resembling the {{wpl|Ibero-Romance languages|!Ibero-Romance subgroup}} of the Sabarine languages, possesses both some notable conserved features from {{wpl|Latin|Sabarian}} and some unique innovations, being the only Sabarine language to retain both the {{wpl|glottal fricative}} /h/ and the {{wpl|labiovelar approximant}} /w/.
The language is widely considered to have nineteen {{wpl|consonant}} phonemes and eight {{wpl|vowel}} phonemes, of which five are pure vowels and three are {{wpl|nasal vowels}}. However, some analyses of Castelan phonology consider the nasal vowels, /ã ɛ̃ ɔ̃/, to be allophones of their non-nasalised counterparts before nasal consonants and thus treat the language as having merely five vowel phonemes.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Castelan consonant phonemes
!
!{{wpl|Labial consonant|Labial}}
! colspan="2"| {{wpl|Coronal consonant|Coronal}}
!{{wpl|Palatal consonant|Palatal}}
!{{wpl|Dorsal consonant|Dorsal}}
|-
!style="text-align: left;" | {{wpl|Nasal stop|Nasal}}
|m
| colspan="2"| n
|ɲ
|
|-
!style="text-align: left;" | {{wpl|Stop consonant|Stop}}
|p b
| colspan="2"| t d
|
|k g
|-
!style="text-align: left;" | {{wpl|Fricative}}
|f
|θ
|s z
|
|h
|-
!style="text-align: left;" | {{wpl|Approximant}}
| w
|colspan="2"|
| j
|
|-
!style="text-align: left;" | {{wpl|Lateral}}
|
|colspan="2"| l
| ʎ
|
|-
!style="text-align: left;" | {{wpl|Rhotic}}
|
|colspan="2"| ɾ
|
|
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Castelan vowel phonemes
!
!{{wpl|Front vowel|Front}}
!{{wpl|Central vowel|Central}}
!{{wpl|Back vowel|Back}}
|-
!style="text-align: left;" | {{wpl|Close vowel|Close}}
| i
|
| u
|-
!style="text-align: left;" | {{wpl|Mid vowel|Mid}}
| ɛ ɛ̃
|
| ɔ ɔ̃
|-
!style="text-align: left;" | {{wpl|Open vowel|Open}}
| colspan="3" | a ã
|}
==Orthography==
==Orthography==
==Grammar==
==Grammar==
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The language distinguishes between nine {{wpl|word classes}}, with nouns, verbs, adjectives, {{wpl|adverbs}}, determiners, prepositions, {{wpl|interjections}}, {{wpl|interrogatives}} and {{wpl|conjunctions}} all having distinct purposes and rules governing them. Derivational suffixes to render words in different word classes exist and are widely used: many adverbs, for example, derive from adjectives with derivational suffixes such as ''-mende'' or ''-ider'' applied to them.
The language distinguishes between nine {{wpl|word classes}}, with nouns, verbs, adjectives, {{wpl|adverbs}}, determiners, prepositions, {{wpl|interjections}}, {{wpl|interrogatives}} and {{wpl|conjunctions}} all having distinct purposes and rules governing them. Derivational suffixes to render words in different word classes exist and are widely used: many adverbs, for example, derive from adjectives with derivational suffixes such as ''-mende'' or ''-ider'' applied to them.
===Nouns===
===Nouns and adjectives===
Like in other Sabarine languages, Castelan nouns uniformly decline for either {{wpl|singular number|singular}} or {{wpl|plural number}} and for {{wpl|masculine gender|masculine}} or {{wpl|feminine gender}}, with which any following determiners have to agree with; while the {{wpl|definite article}} takes the form ''il'' for a masculine singular noun, it takes on the form ''la'' for a feminine singular noun and ''les'' for a plural noun of either gender.
Like in other Sabarine languages, Castelan nouns uniformly decline for either {{wpl|singular number|singular}} or {{wpl|plural number}} and for {{wpl|masculine gender|masculine}} or {{wpl|feminine gender}}, with which any following determiners have to agree with; while the {{wpl|definite article}} takes the form ''il'' for a masculine singular noun, it takes on the form ''la'' for a feminine singular noun and ''les'' for a plural noun of either gender.


However, unlike in most other Sabarine languages, nouns are also declined for three cases: the {{wpl|nominative case|nominative}} (''nominativo''), the {{wpl|accusative case|accusative}} (''acuzativo'') and the {{wpl|genitive case|genitive}} (''yenitivo''), yet in plural form the nominative and accusative forms are not distinguished. The nominative form of a noun is used when the noun takes on the role of the subject of a {{wpl|transitive verb}} or an {{wpl|intransitive verb}} and serves as the standard dictionary form of a noun, while the accusative is used for the {{wpl|direct object}} of a transitive verb and the genitive is used to show the possessor of another noun or that the noun in question modifies another noun in any way.
However, unlike in most other Sabarine languages, nouns are also declined for three cases: the {{wpl|nominative case|nominative}} (''nominativo''), the {{wpl|accusative case|accusative}} (''acuzativo'') and the {{wpl|genitive case|genitive}} (''genitivo''), yet in plural form the nominative and accusative forms are not distinguished. The nominative form of a noun is used when the noun takes on the role of the subject of a {{wpl|transitive verb}} or an {{wpl|intransitive verb}} and serves as the standard dictionary form of a noun, while the accusative is used for the {{wpl|direct object}} of a transitive verb and the genitive is used to show the possessor of another noun or that the noun in question modifies another noun in any way.


Castelan is largely said to have two declensions, of which almost all nouns fit into: one each for the masculine and feminine genders. What follows are examples of conjugations for ''homo'' (man) and ''fema'' (woman) as examples of regular conjugation for the masculine and feminine declensions, as well as the declension for ''nue'' (cloud) as an example of an irregularly conjugating masculine noun.
Castelan is largely said to have two declensions, of which almost all nouns fit into: one each for the masculine and feminine genders. What follows are examples of conjugations for ''homo'' (man) and ''fema'' (woman) as examples of regular conjugation for the masculine and feminine declensions, as well as the declension for ''nue'' (cloud) as an example of an irregularly conjugating masculine noun.
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|-
|-
! Accusative
! Accusative
| fem'''ã''' || hom'''ã''' || nue'''m'''
| fem'''ã''' || hom'''õ''' || nue'''m'''
|-
|-
! Genitive
! Genitive
| fem'''e''' || fem'''arõ''' || hom'''e''' || hom'''orõ''' || nue'''i''' || nue'''rõ'''
| fem'''e''' || fem'''arõ''' || hom'''e''' || hom'''orõ''' || nue'''i''' || nue'''rõ'''
|-
|}
Adjectives are declined to agree with nouns in two ways depending on whether they are considered strong adjectives or weak adjectives. Both classes of adjectives change form to agree with nouns based on their case and number, yet only weak adjectives change their form to agree with their noun's gender. This is demonstrated below using the adjectives ''flavo'' (yellow) and ''verde'' (green), which take the role of weak and strong adjectives respectively.
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="3" |
! colspan="4" | ''flavo''<br />yellow {{abbr|(w.)|weak}}
! rowspan="2" colspan="2" | ''verde''<br />green {{abbr|(s.)|strong}}
|-
! colspan="2" | Masculine
! colspan="2" | Feminine
|-
! Singular
! Plural
! Singular
! Plural
! Singular
! Plural
|-
! Nominative
| flav'''o''' || rowspan="2" | flav'''os''' || flav'''a''' || rowspan="2" | flav'''as''' || verd'''e''' || rowspan="2" | verd'''es'''
|-
! Accusative
| flav'''õ'''
|| flav'''ã'''
|| verd'''em'''
|-
! Genitive
| flav'''e''' || flav'''orõ''' || flav'''e''' || flav'''arõ''' || verd'''i''' || verd'''erõ'''
|-
|-
|}
|}
===Verbs===
===Verbs===
Castelan verbs are highly inflected, as in many other Sabarine languages: each verb has around 45 distinctive inflected forms. Most of these forms consist of combinations of the three grammatical persons ({{wpl|First person|first}}, {{wpl|Second person|second}} and {{wpl|Third person|third}}) with the two grammatical numbers (singular and plural) and seven combinations of tense, aspect and mood, yet there is also the presence of the {{wpl|infinitive}} form and a general {{wpl|imperative mood|imperative}} form, as well as a vestigial {{wpl|past participle}} form; one of the most notable features of the Castelan language which contrasts to other Sabarine languages is the minimal use of participles.
Castelan verbs are highly inflected, as in many other Sabarine languages: each verb has around 46 distinctive inflected forms. Most of these forms consist of combinations of the three grammatical persons ({{wpl|First person|first}}, {{wpl|Second person|second}} and {{wpl|Third person|third}}) with the two grammatical numbers (singular and plural) and seven combinations of tense, aspect and mood, yet there is also the presence of the {{wpl|infinitive}} form and a general {{wpl|imperative mood|imperative}} form, as well as vestigial {{wpl|past participle}} and {{wpl|present participle}} forms.


Within Castelan's seven {{wpl|tense-aspect-mood}} combinations there are four {{wpl|indicative mood|indicative}} tenses: the {{wpl|present tense|present}} (''prezento''), the {{wpl|preterite}} (''prederito''), the {{wpl|imperfect}} (''imberfeto'') and the {{wpl|future tense|future}} (''fuduro''). These are the most commonly used tenses and are used to convey an event or statement that the speaker considers to be a fact or a known state of affairs. More specifically, the present is used to convey a currently occuring state or action, while the imperfect and preterite are used to convey events that have already occured and the future is used to convey events that will occur.  
Within Castelan's seven {{wpl|tense-aspect-mood}} combinations there are four {{wpl|indicative mood|indicative}} tenses: the {{wpl|present tense|present}} (''prezento''), the {{wpl|preterite}} (''prederito''), the {{wpl|imperfect}} (''imberfeto'') and the {{wpl|future tense|future}} (''fuduro''). These are the most commonly used tenses and are used to convey an event or statement that the speaker considers to be a fact or a known state of affairs. More specifically, the present is used to convey a currently occuring state or action, while the imperfect and preterite are used to convey events that have already occured and the future is used to convey events that will occur.  
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Three other, non-indicative tenses exist in modern Castelan: two {{wpl|subjunctive mood|subjunctive}} tenses (present and imperfect) and a {{wpl|conditional mood|conditional}} tense. The subjunctive tenses are used to express actions or state of beings about which the speaker is uncertain or to express opinions and judgements and as such is used largely in subordinate clauses, and the distinction between a subjunctive present and an imperfect subjunctive is to show a difference between uncertainties in the current timeframe or those in other timeframes. Meanwhile, the conditional is used to indicate states of being and actions which are dependent on another action taking place, or in order to make a request more polite.  
Three other, non-indicative tenses exist in modern Castelan: two {{wpl|subjunctive mood|subjunctive}} tenses (present and imperfect) and a {{wpl|conditional mood|conditional}} tense. The subjunctive tenses are used to express actions or state of beings about which the speaker is uncertain or to express opinions and judgements and as such is used largely in subordinate clauses, and the distinction between a subjunctive present and an imperfect subjunctive is to show a difference between uncertainties in the current timeframe or those in other timeframes. Meanwhile, the conditional is used to indicate states of being and actions which are dependent on another action taking place, or in order to make a request more polite.  
Of the forms not conjugated for person, the imperative form is used for commands, while the infinitive is used as a verb's standard dictionary form and as the form that secondary verbs in a sentence take: when a verb is used with an auxiliary the auxiliary is conjugated while the other verb is rendered in the infinitive. The two participles, however, are often used as adjectives, yet the past participle is used to form the passive form of a verb. Unlike in other Sabarine languages, participles are not used to form compound tenses in standard Castelan.


Most Castelan verbs fit regularly into three conjugation patterns which can be determined by the ending of the verb's infinitive: the first conjugation is categorised by an ''-are'' ending, while the second conjugation is categorised by an ending of ''-ere'' and the third conjugation by the ending of ''-ire''. What follows is a demonstration of the three main conjugation patterns using the verbs ''fablare'' (to talk), ''comere'' (to eat) and ''odire'' (to hear), representing the first, second and third conjugations respectively.
Most Castelan verbs fit regularly into three conjugation patterns which can be determined by the ending of the verb's infinitive: the first conjugation is categorised by an ''-are'' ending, while the second conjugation is categorised by an ending of ''-ere'' and the third conjugation by the ending of ''-ire''. What follows is a demonstration of the three main conjugation patterns using the verbs ''fablare'' (to talk), ''comere'' (to eat) and ''odire'' (to hear), representing the first, second and third conjugations respectively.
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|-
|-
|}
|}
There are, however, multiple verbs which do not fit the regular paradigms. One set of second declension verbs, consisting of ''tenere'' (to have) and its derivative forms, is noted for following a somewhat irregular conjugation pattern; while in many tenses they follow the same pattern as other second declension verbs, they have irregular preterite and imperfect subjunctive forms, as displayed below.
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" colspan="2" | ''tenere''<br />to have {{abbr|(2nd. i.)|irregular second conjugation}}
! colspan="3" | Singular
! colspan="3" | Plural
|-
! 1st person
! 2nd person
! 3rd person
! 1st person
! 2nd person
! 3rd person
|-
! rowspan="4" | Indicative
! Present
| ten'''o''' || ten'''es''' || ten'''e''' || ten'''emas''' || ten'''eis''' || ten'''en'''
|-
! Preterite
| t'''ue''' || t'''uiste''' || t'''ue''' || t'''uimas''' || t'''uisteis''' || t'''uirõ'''
|-
! Imperfect
| ten'''eraba''' || ten'''erabas''' || ten'''eraba''' || ten'''erabamas''' || ten'''erabais''' || ten'''erabã'''
|-
! Future
| ten'''ere''' || ten'''eras''' || ten'''era''' || ten'''eremas''' || ten'''ereis''' || ten'''eren'''
|-
! rowspan="2" | Subjunctive
! Present
| ten'''a''' || ten'''as''' || ten'''a''' || ten'''amas''' || ten'''ais''' || ten'''ã'''
|-
! Imperfect
| ten'''ese''' || ten'''eses''' || ten'''ese''' || ten'''esemas''' || ten'''eseis''' || ten'''esen'''
|-
! colspan="2" | Conditional
| ten'''eria''' || ten'''erias''' || ten'''eria''' || ten'''erimas''' || ten'''eriais''' || ten'''eriã'''
|-
! colspan="3" | Imperative
| colspan="5" | te'''nhas'''
|-
|}
There also two verbs which are considered to be completely irregular and outside of the three declensions, ''essere'' (to be) and ''ire'' (to go). These verbs have many forms unpredictable from their infinitive form due to processes of {{wpl|suppletion}}, and as a result of historical Latin suppletion the preterite and imperfect subjunctive forms for both verbs are identical. Their full declensions, displaying their irregular patterns, are below.
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" colspan="2" | ''ire''<br />to go {{abbr|(i.)|irregular conjugation}}
! colspan="3" | Singular
! colspan="3" | Plural
|-
! 1st person
! 2nd person
! 3rd person
! 1st person
! 2nd person
! 3rd person
|-
! rowspan="4" | Indicative
! Present
| '''eyo''' || '''eyas''' || '''eya''' || '''eyamas''' || '''eyais''' || '''eyã'''
|-
! Preterite
| '''fue''' || '''fuestes''' || '''fue''' || '''fuemas''' || '''fuestais''' || '''fuestã'''
|-
! Imperfect
| ir'''aba''' || ir'''abas''' || ir'''aba''' || ir'''abamas''' || ir'''abais''' || ir'''abã'''
|-
! Future
| ir'''e''' || ir'''es''' || ir'''a''' || ir'''emas''' || ir'''eis''' || ir'''en'''
|-
! rowspan="2" | Subjunctive
! Present
| '''eye''' || '''eyes''' || '''eye''' || '''eyemas''' || '''eyeis''' || '''eyen'''
|-
! Imperfect
| '''fuera''' || '''fueras''' || '''fuera''' || '''fueramas''' || '''fuerais''' || '''fuerã'''
|-
! colspan="2" | Conditional
| ir'''ia''' || ir'''ias''' || ir'''ia''' || ir'''imas''' || ir'''iais''' || ir'''iã'''
|-
! colspan="3" | Imperative
| colspan="5" | '''eya'''
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" colspan="2" | ''essere''<br />to be {{abbr|(i.)|irregular conjugation}}
! colspan="3" | Singular
! colspan="3" | Plural
|-
! 1st person
! 2nd person
! 3rd person
! 1st person
! 2nd person
! 3rd person
|-
! rowspan="4" | Indicative
! Present
| ess'''o''' || e'''ras''' || '''es''' || ess'''emas''' || ess'''ais''' || ess'''ã'''
|-
! Preterite
| '''fue''' || '''fuestes''' || '''fue''' || '''fuemas''' || '''fuestais''' || '''fuestã'''
|-
! Imperfect
| e'''ro''' || e'''res''' || e'''re''' || e'''remas''' || e'''rais''' || e'''rã'''
|-
! Future
| ess'''ere''' || ess'''eras''' || ess'''era''' || ess'''eramas''' || ess'''erais''' || ess'''eren'''
|-
! rowspan="2" | Subjunctive
! Present
| ess'''e''' || ess'''es''' || ess'''e''' || ess'''emas''' || ess'''eis''' || ess'''en'''
|-
! Imperfect
| '''fuera''' || '''fueras''' || '''fuera''' || '''fueramas''' || '''fuerais''' || '''fuerã'''
|-
! colspan="2" | Conditional
| ess'''eria''' || ess'''erias''' || ess'''eria''' || ess'''erimas''' || ess'''eriais''' || ess'''eriã'''
|-
! colspan="3" | Imperative
| colspan="5" | '''essa'''
|-
|}
===Prepositions===
Uniquely amongst Sabarine languages, Castelan has developed a system of {{wpl|inflected prepositions|inflections}} for a significant proportion of its {{wpl|prepositions}}. This is thought to have developed under influence from !Celtic languages, but unlike in the !Celtic languages, not all of its prepositions can be inflected, inflections do not exist for plural numbers and there exist forms which inflect if the following word would have a definite article preceding it.
In literary Castelan, the prepositions ''circõ'' (around), ''in'' (in, on, at, by), ''por'' (for), ''pos'' (after), ''sin'' (without) and ''trãs'' (through, across) do not take inflections, yet in many colloquial dialects of Castelan, forms of ''in'', ''por'' and ''sin'' inflected for person are present.
The following table shows the various inflections that prepositions can take in literary Castelan.
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" | Preposition
! colspan="3" | Definite
! colspan="4" | Person
|-
! Masculine
! Feminine
! Plural
! 1st person
! 2nd person
! 3rd person masc.
! 3rd person fem.
|-
! a ''(to)''
| a'''l''' || a'''lla''' || a'''lles''' || a'''mme''' || a'''te''' || a'''lhõ''' || a'''lhã'''
|-
! cõ ''(with)''
| cõ'''l''' || cõ'''lla''' || cõ'''lles''' || co'''mme''' || cõ'''te''' || colspan="2" | cõ'''lhe'''
|-
! cõdra ''(against)''
| cõdra'''l''' || cõdra'''lla''' || cõdra'''lles''' || cõdra'''mme''' || cõdra'''te''' || cõdra'''lhõ''' || cõdra'''lhã'''
|-
! de ''(of)''
| de'''l''' || de'''lla''' || de'''lles''' || de'''mme''' || de'''te''' || de'''lhõ''' || de'''lhã'''
|-
! estra ''(out of)''
| estra'''l''' || estra'''lla''' || estra'''lles''' || estra'''mme''' || estra'''te''' || estra'''lhõ''' || estra'''lhã'''
|-
! indre ''(between)''
| indre'''l''' || indre'''lla''' || indre'''lles''' || colspan="4" | '''N/A'''
|-
! para ''(towards)''
| para'''l''' || para'''lla''' || para'''lles''' || para'''mme''' || para'''te''' || para'''lhõ''' || para'''lhã'''
|-
! pro ''(for)''
| pro'''l''' || pro'''lla''' || pro'''lles''' || pro'''mme''' || pro'''te''' || pro'''lhõ''' || pro'''lhã'''
|-
! su ''(under)''
| su'''l''' || su'''lla''' || su'''lles''' || su'''mme''' || su'''te''' || su'''lhõ''' || su'''lhã'''
|-
! subre ''(above)''
| subre'''l''' || subre'''lla''' || subre'''lles''' || subre'''mme''' || subre'''te''' || subre'''lhõ''' || subre'''lhã'''
|-
|}
The most used inflections on ''in'', ''por'' and ''sin'' in colloquial Castelan are:
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" | Preposition
! colspan="3" | Definite
! colspan="4" | Person
|-
! Masculine
! Feminine
! Plural
! 1st person
! 2nd person
! 3rd person masc.
! 3rd person fem.
|-
! in ''(in, on, at, by)''
| in'''nil''' || i'''lla''' || i'''lles''' || i'''mme''' || in'''te''' || i'''nhõ''' || i'''nhã'''
|-
! por ''(for)''
| po'''l''' || por'''la''' || por'''les''' || por'''me''' || por'''te''' || po'''lhõ''' || po'''lhã'''
|-
! sin ''(without)''
| si'''l''' || si'''lla''' || si'''lles''' || si'''mme''' || sin'''te''' || colspan="2" | si'''nhe'''
|}
When an inflected preposition is not used, the following noun is rendered in the accusative case for most pronouns, yet for the prepositions ''sin'', ''cõ'' and ''por'' the following nouns are rendered in the genitive case, leading to the three of them being dubbed "genitive prepositions".
===Pronouns===
Castelan pronouns reflect nouns in the forms they can take, with separate nominative, accusative and genitive forms in the singular and a simple distinction between direct and genitive forms in the plural. Third person pronouns distinguish between masculine and feminine forms, yet the genitive form of both in the singular is identical.
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" colspan="2" | Person
! colspan="3" | Singular
! colspan="2" | Plural
|-
! Nominative
! Accusative
! Genitive
! Direct
! Genitive
|-
! colspan="2" | 1st
| yo
| me
| mei
| nos
| nostrõ
|-
! colspan="2" | 2nd
| tu
| te
| tui
| vos
| vostrõ
|-
! rowspan="2" | 3rd
! masc.
| ilho
| ilhõ
| rowspan="2" | ilhe
| ilhos
| ilhorõ
|-
! fem.
| ilha
| ilhã
| ilhas
| ilharõ
|}
Castelan is a {{wpl|pro-drop}} language - due to the inflection of the subject on verbs, including the nominative pronoun is redundant and is thus often removed in both literary and colloquial forms of the language, hence ''Como maçanas.'' as opposed to ''Yo como maçanas.''.
===Syntax===
Castelan largely has a {{wpl|subject-verb-object}} word order as seen in the following sentence:
:''Il treno debarte il istaçõ pos novõ.''
:The train leaves the station at nine.
In this sentence, the subject, ''il treno'', occurs first, before the verb, ''debarte'', which is inflected to show the present indicative tense and a third-person subject, followed by the direct object, ''il istaçõ'', and then a preposition and the indirect object, ''pos novõ''.
However, there is one notable exception to the subject-verb-object rule - when the subject pronoun is dropped, the direct object pronoun is moved to the front of the sentence, as in the sentence:
:''Te incõdre sul arbrõ maçanarõ.''
:I found you under the apple tree.
Here, the pronoun ''te'' is moved before the verb, ''incõdre'', as it has been inflected to indicate the indicative preterite tense and a first-person object and thus the pronoun ''yo'' can be dropped and ''te'' moved in its place. This sentence also shows an example of a preposition, ''sul'', inflected to show a definite masculine object, and a genitive construction of ''arbrõ maçanarõ'', showing ''arbrõ'' (tree) in the accusative and ''maçanarõ'' (apple) in the genitive plural.
Questions are either indicated through {{wpl|interrogatives}}, such as in ''Inui es la bibliotecã?'' (Where is the library?), or through a simple change in tone from a single statement, with no difference in words between ''Venhirias comme.'' (You would come.) and ''Venhirias comme?'' (Would you come?).
Castelan does not use {{wpl|relative pronouns}} to form {{wpl|relative clauses}} - in stead the following construction is commonly used where the relative clause is simply linked by comma to the main clause:
:''Amo homõ, es estranho.''
:I love a man who is a homosexual.
An {{wpl|auxiliary verb}} may be used in Castelan - in this case, the auxiliary verb is inflected for tense, person and number and the verb it is modifying is placed immediately afterwards as in the construction:
:''Pudo fablare la linguã castelanã.''
:I can speak the Castelan language.
Here, ''pudo'' (I can) is inflected while ''fablare'' is placed in the infinitive immediately afterwards and before the direct object.
[[Category:Languages]]
[[Category:Languages]]
[[Category:Castelana]]
[[Category:Castelana]]

Latest revision as of 15:31, 24 April 2022

Castelan language
Lingua castelana
Native to Castelana
EthnicityCastelan people
Native speakers
8 million L1 (2017)
4 million L2
Auressian
  • Underline
    • Sabarine
      • Angulic
Sabarine alphabet
Official status
Official language in
 Castelana
Regulated byCastelan Linguistic Academy
Language codes
ISO 639-3–

Castelan (/'kæstəlæn/; Castelan: castelana [kastɛ'lana] or lingua castelana ['liŋwa kastɛ'lana]) is a Sabarine language spoken in by slightly over 8 million people in Castelana, where it is one of two official languages along with the Rianic language. While historically considered to be an !Ibero-Romance language, due to shared innovations with many !Ibero-Romance languages, in recent years this status has been disputed due to Castelan's retention of many phonological and grammatical features abandoned by all other !Ibero-Romance languages and as a result has been classified within its own Angulic branch of Sabarine languages.

Like all other Romance languages, Castelana evolved from the Sabarian language spoken in the First Sabarian Empire, yet as previously mentioned is significantly more phonologically and grammatically conservative than the other Sabarine languages in many ways, for example retaining a reduced form of Sabarian's case system, yet it has also taken on a significant degree of influence in terms of phonology, grammar and vocabulary from its bordering !Brythonic languages. Its modern form is a fusional language with significant inflection on both nouns and verbs and, as a result, a relatively free word order. It has a rather small phonemic inventory, consisting of 19 consonants, seven pure vowels and four diphthongs, which notably contains the relatively rare phoneme /θ/, and is written using 23 of the 26 letters of the Sabarian alphabet, albeit with the use of the modified letters ç ã õ.

History

Classification

Phonology

Castelan has a phonology which, while somewhat resembling the !Ibero-Romance subgroup of the Sabarine languages, possesses both some notable conserved features from Sabarian and some unique innovations, being the only Sabarine language to retain both the glottal fricative /h/ and the labiovelar approximant /w/.

The language is widely considered to have nineteen consonant phonemes and eight vowel phonemes, of which five are pure vowels and three are nasal vowels. However, some analyses of Castelan phonology consider the nasal vowels, /ã ɛ̃ ɔ̃/, to be allophones of their non-nasalised counterparts before nasal consonants and thus treat the language as having merely five vowel phonemes.

Castelan consonant phonemes
Labial Coronal Palatal Dorsal
Nasal m n ɲ
Stop p b t d k g
Fricative f θ s z h
Approximant w j
Lateral l ʎ
Rhotic ɾ
Castelan vowel phonemes
Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid ɛ ɛ̃ ɔ ɔ̃
Open a ã

Orthography

Grammar

Castelan possesses a fusional typology in which nouns, determiners, verbs and adjectives take on inflections to indicate their grammatical functions and to change their meanings, using inflections on nouns to show case, number and gender and on verbs to show tense, aspect, mood, person and number, while adjectives take on inflections to show agreement with the nouns they modify.

The language distinguishes between nine word classes, with nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, determiners, prepositions, interjections, interrogatives and conjunctions all having distinct purposes and rules governing them. Derivational suffixes to render words in different word classes exist and are widely used: many adverbs, for example, derive from adjectives with derivational suffixes such as -mende or -ider applied to them.

Nouns and adjectives

Like in other Sabarine languages, Castelan nouns uniformly decline for either singular or plural number and for masculine or feminine gender, with which any following determiners have to agree with; while the definite article takes the form il for a masculine singular noun, it takes on the form la for a feminine singular noun and les for a plural noun of either gender.

However, unlike in most other Sabarine languages, nouns are also declined for three cases: the nominative (nominativo), the accusative (acuzativo) and the genitive (genitivo), yet in plural form the nominative and accusative forms are not distinguished. The nominative form of a noun is used when the noun takes on the role of the subject of a transitive verb or an intransitive verb and serves as the standard dictionary form of a noun, while the accusative is used for the direct object of a transitive verb and the genitive is used to show the possessor of another noun or that the noun in question modifies another noun in any way.

Castelan is largely said to have two declensions, of which almost all nouns fit into: one each for the masculine and feminine genders. What follows are examples of conjugations for homo (man) and fema (woman) as examples of regular conjugation for the masculine and feminine declensions, as well as the declension for nue (cloud) as an example of an irregularly conjugating masculine noun.

fema
woman (f.) 		homo
man (m.) 		nue
cloud (m. i.)
Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural
Nominative fema femas homo homos nue nues
Accusative femã homõ nuem
Genitive feme femarõ home homorõ nuei nuerõ

Adjectives are declined to agree with nouns in two ways depending on whether they are considered strong adjectives or weak adjectives. Both classes of adjectives change form to agree with nouns based on their case and number, yet only weak adjectives change their form to agree with their noun's gender. This is demonstrated below using the adjectives flavo (yellow) and verde (green), which take the role of weak and strong adjectives respectively.

flavo
yellow (w.) 		verde
green (s.)
Masculine Feminine
Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural
Nominative flavo flavos flava flavas verde verdes
Accusative flavõ flavã verdem
Genitive flave flavorõ flave flavarõ verdi verderõ

Verbs

Castelan verbs are highly inflected, as in many other Sabarine languages: each verb has around 46 distinctive inflected forms. Most of these forms consist of combinations of the three grammatical persons (first, second and third) with the two grammatical numbers (singular and plural) and seven combinations of tense, aspect and mood, yet there is also the presence of the infinitive form and a general imperative form, as well as vestigial past participle and present participle forms.

Within Castelan's seven tense-aspect-mood combinations there are four indicative tenses: the present (prezento), the preterite (prederito), the imperfect (imberfeto) and the future (fuduro). These are the most commonly used tenses and are used to convey an event or statement that the speaker considers to be a fact or a known state of affairs. More specifically, the present is used to convey a currently occuring state or action, while the imperfect and preterite are used to convey events that have already occured and the future is used to convey events that will occur.

The specific distinction between the imperfect and the preterite is to convey completeness; the preterite is used to convey an action that has been completed or a previous state of being, while the imperfect is used to signify either an uncompleted action or an action that the speaker used to perform on a regular basis in the past.

Three other, non-indicative tenses exist in modern Castelan: two subjunctive tenses (present and imperfect) and a conditional tense. The subjunctive tenses are used to express actions or state of beings about which the speaker is uncertain or to express opinions and judgements and as such is used largely in subordinate clauses, and the distinction between a subjunctive present and an imperfect subjunctive is to show a difference between uncertainties in the current timeframe or those in other timeframes. Meanwhile, the conditional is used to indicate states of being and actions which are dependent on another action taking place, or in order to make a request more polite.

Of the forms not conjugated for person, the imperative form is used for commands, while the infinitive is used as a verb's standard dictionary form and as the form that secondary verbs in a sentence take: when a verb is used with an auxiliary the auxiliary is conjugated while the other verb is rendered in the infinitive. The two participles, however, are often used as adjectives, yet the past participle is used to form the passive form of a verb. Unlike in other Sabarine languages, participles are not used to form compound tenses in standard Castelan.

Most Castelan verbs fit regularly into three conjugation patterns which can be determined by the ending of the verb's infinitive: the first conjugation is categorised by an -are ending, while the second conjugation is categorised by an ending of -ere and the third conjugation by the ending of -ire. What follows is a demonstration of the three main conjugation patterns using the verbs fablare (to talk), comere (to eat) and odire (to hear), representing the first, second and third conjugations respectively.

fablare
to talk (1st.) 		Singular Plural
1st person 2nd person 3rd person 1st person 2nd person 3rd person
Indicative Present fablo fablas fabla fablamas fablais fablã
Preterite fable fablaste fablase fablamase fablasteis fablarã
Imperfect fablaba fablabas fablaba fablabamas fablabais fablabã
Future fablare fablaras fablara fablaremas fablareis fablaren
Subjunctive Present fable fables fable fablemas fableis fablen
Imperfect fablase fablases fablase fablasemas fablaseis fablasen
Conditional fablaria fablarias fablaria fablarimas fablariais fablariã
Imperative fables
comere
to eat (2nd.) 		Singular Plural
1st person 2nd person 3rd person 1st person 2nd person 3rd person
Indicative Present como comes come comemas comeis comen
Preterite comi comiste comise comimas comisteis comirõ
Imperfect comeraba comerabas comeraba comerabamas comerabais comerabã
Future comere comeras comera comeremas comereis comeren
Subjunctive Present coma comas coma comamas comais comã
Imperfect comiese comieses comiese comiesemas comieseis comiesen
Conditional comeria comerias comeria comerimas comeriais comeriã
Imperative comias
odire
to hear (3rd.) 		Singular Plural
1st person 2nd person 3rd person 1st person 2nd person 3rd person
Indicative Present odo odes ode odemas odis oden
Preterite odi odiste odise odimas odisteis odirõ
Imperfect odiraba odirabas odiraba odirabamas odirabais odirabã
Future odire odiras odira odiremas odireis odiren
Subjunctive Present oda odas oda odamas odais odã
Imperfect odiese odieses odiese odiesemas odieseis odiesen
Conditional odiria odirias odiria odiriamas odiriais odiriã
Imperative odias

There are, however, multiple verbs which do not fit the regular paradigms. One set of second declension verbs, consisting of tenere (to have) and its derivative forms, is noted for following a somewhat irregular conjugation pattern; while in many tenses they follow the same pattern as other second declension verbs, they have irregular preterite and imperfect subjunctive forms, as displayed below.

tenere
to have (2nd. i.) 		Singular Plural
1st person 2nd person 3rd person 1st person 2nd person 3rd person
Indicative Present teno tenes tene tenemas teneis tenen
Preterite tue tuiste tue tuimas tuisteis tuirõ
Imperfect teneraba tenerabas teneraba tenerabamas tenerabais tenerabã
Future tenere teneras tenera teneremas tenereis teneren
Subjunctive Present tena tenas tena tenamas tenais tenã
Imperfect tenese teneses tenese tenesemas teneseis tenesen
Conditional teneria tenerias teneria tenerimas teneriais teneriã
Imperative tenhas

There also two verbs which are considered to be completely irregular and outside of the three declensions, essere (to be) and ire (to go). These verbs have many forms unpredictable from their infinitive form due to processes of suppletion, and as a result of historical Latin suppletion the preterite and imperfect subjunctive forms for both verbs are identical. Their full declensions, displaying their irregular patterns, are below.

ire
to go (i.) 		Singular Plural
1st person 2nd person 3rd person 1st person 2nd person 3rd person
Indicative Present eyo eyas eya eyamas eyais eyã
Preterite fue fuestes fue fuemas fuestais fuestã
Imperfect iraba irabas iraba irabamas irabais irabã
Future ire ires ira iremas ireis iren
Subjunctive Present eye eyes eye eyemas eyeis eyen
Imperfect fuera fueras fuera fueramas fuerais fuerã
Conditional iria irias iria irimas iriais iriã
Imperative eya
essere
to be (i.) 		Singular Plural
1st person 2nd person 3rd person 1st person 2nd person 3rd person
Indicative Present esso eras es essemas essais essã
Preterite fue fuestes fue fuemas fuestais fuestã
Imperfect ero eres ere eremas erais erã
Future essere esseras essera esseramas esserais esseren
Subjunctive Present esse esses esse essemas esseis essen
Imperfect fuera fueras fuera fueramas fuerais fuerã
Conditional esseria esserias esseria esserimas esseriais esseriã
Imperative essa

Prepositions

Uniquely amongst Sabarine languages, Castelan has developed a system of inflections for a significant proportion of its prepositions. This is thought to have developed under influence from !Celtic languages, but unlike in the !Celtic languages, not all of its prepositions can be inflected, inflections do not exist for plural numbers and there exist forms which inflect if the following word would have a definite article preceding it.

In literary Castelan, the prepositions circõ (around), in (in, on, at, by), por (for), pos (after), sin (without) and trãs (through, across) do not take inflections, yet in many colloquial dialects of Castelan, forms of in, por and sin inflected for person are present.

The following table shows the various inflections that prepositions can take in literary Castelan.

Preposition Definite Person
Masculine Feminine Plural 1st person 2nd person 3rd person masc. 3rd person fem.
a (to) al alla alles amme ate alhõ alhã
cõ (with) cõl cõlla cõlles comme cõte cõlhe
cõdra (against) cõdral cõdralla cõdralles cõdramme cõdrate cõdralhõ cõdralhã
de (of) del della delles demme dete delhõ delhã
estra (out of) estral estralla estralles estramme estrate estralhõ estralhã
indre (between) indrel indrella indrelles N/A
para (towards) paral paralla paralles paramme parate paralhõ paralhã
pro (for) prol prolla prolles promme prote prolhõ prolhã
su (under) sul sulla sulles summe sute sulhõ sulhã
subre (above) subrel subrella subrelles subremme subrete subrelhõ subrelhã

The most used inflections on in, por and sin in colloquial Castelan are:

Preposition Definite Person
Masculine Feminine Plural 1st person 2nd person 3rd person masc. 3rd person fem.
in (in, on, at, by) innil illa illes imme inte inhõ inhã
por (for) pol porla porles porme porte polhõ polhã
sin (without) sil silla silles simme sinte sinhe

When an inflected preposition is not used, the following noun is rendered in the accusative case for most pronouns, yet for the prepositions sin, cõ and por the following nouns are rendered in the genitive case, leading to the three of them being dubbed "genitive prepositions".

Pronouns

Castelan pronouns reflect nouns in the forms they can take, with separate nominative, accusative and genitive forms in the singular and a simple distinction between direct and genitive forms in the plural. Third person pronouns distinguish between masculine and feminine forms, yet the genitive form of both in the singular is identical.

Person Singular Plural
Nominative Accusative Genitive Direct Genitive
1st yo me mei nos nostrõ
2nd tu te tui vos vostrõ
3rd masc. ilho ilhõ ilhe ilhos ilhorõ
fem. ilha ilhã ilhas ilharõ

Castelan is a pro-drop language - due to the inflection of the subject on verbs, including the nominative pronoun is redundant and is thus often removed in both literary and colloquial forms of the language, hence Como maçanas. as opposed to Yo como maçanas..

Syntax

Castelan largely has a subject-verb-object word order as seen in the following sentence:

Il treno debarte il istaçõ pos novõ.
The train leaves the station at nine.

In this sentence, the subject, il treno, occurs first, before the verb, debarte, which is inflected to show the present indicative tense and a third-person subject, followed by the direct object, il istaçõ, and then a preposition and the indirect object, pos novõ.

However, there is one notable exception to the subject-verb-object rule - when the subject pronoun is dropped, the direct object pronoun is moved to the front of the sentence, as in the sentence:

Te incõdre sul arbrõ maçanarõ.
I found you under the apple tree.

Here, the pronoun te is moved before the verb, incõdre, as it has been inflected to indicate the indicative preterite tense and a first-person object and thus the pronoun yo can be dropped and te moved in its place. This sentence also shows an example of a preposition, sul, inflected to show a definite masculine object, and a genitive construction of arbrõ maçanarõ, showing arbrõ (tree) in the accusative and maçanarõ (apple) in the genitive plural.

Questions are either indicated through interrogatives, such as in Inui es la bibliotecã? (Where is the library?), or through a simple change in tone from a single statement, with no difference in words between Venhirias comme. (You would come.) and Venhirias comme? (Would you come?).

Castelan does not use relative pronouns to form relative clauses - in stead the following construction is commonly used where the relative clause is simply linked by comma to the main clause:

Amo homõ, es estranho.
I love a man who is a homosexual.

An auxiliary verb may be used in Castelan - in this case, the auxiliary verb is inflected for tense, person and number and the verb it is modifying is placed immediately afterwards as in the construction:

Pudo fablare la linguã castelanã.
I can speak the Castelan language.

Here, pudo (I can) is inflected while fablare is placed in the infinitive immediately afterwards and before the direct object.

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